AFP Warns Federal Police Strike Could Undermine Security

A general view of the Australian Federal Police badge during a press conference in Melbourne, Australia, on Sept. 30, 2014. (Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has said that it will object to industrial actions that jeopardise the safety of the community and public officers.

This comes after the Australian Federal Police Association (AFPA) notified federal politicians on Aug. 11 about its plan to organise industrial actions in the coming weeks to protest a “toxic” pay deal proposed by the government.

The strikes will result in federal police officers withdrawing from duties at airports, political events, and the federal parliament during sitting weeks.

Officers will also temporarily suspend investigating certain types of crimes and performing other tasks.

An AFP spokesperson told The Epoch Times that the agency was aware of the AFPA’s proposal to undertake additional forms of protected action during pay negotiations.

The spokesperson also noted that while the AFP supported the right of AFPA members to take industrial action under the law, it would not support any action that threatened national and community security or undermined the agency’s ability to do its job.

“While the AFP has not received formal notification of such actions to date, the AFP wants to be very clear: The AFP will vigorously object to any action that jeopardises the safety and protection of high office holders, parliamentarians or designated airports,” the spokesperson said.

“At no time will the life of any high office holder, politician or member of the public be put at risk because of any proposed action by the AFPA.”

What’s Behind the Strike

The industrial actions come after 96 percent of AFPA members voted in favour of a strike in late July after demanding higher pay rises for officers.

The government had offered an 11.2 percent increase over three years and added work-from-home provisions.

However, the AFPA believed the proposed rise was inappropriate for its members, saying the base wages of federal police officers were the lowest in the country.

AFPA President Alex Caruana pointed to the work-from-home entitlements and said they were useless to federal police officers working on the front line.

“The deal currently being presented is toxic,” he said.

“AFP officers deal with the worst of humanity and have to enter the dark worlds of paedophile rings, international drug trafficking, illegal arms dealers and murderous terrorists every day.”

Caruana also warned that there could be an exodus of federal police officers due to uncompetitive wages and working conditions.

“People will not do it when they know they can be treated much better by a different employer,” he said.

“The skills of AFP officers are in high demand, not just from other state police services but from the public service and from the private sector, like banks.”

Regarding the upcoming industrial actions, the AFPA president said officers were prepared to be “extremely disruptive” during their strikes.

However, he noted that the association had committed not to partake in any activities that would risk danger to the community.

A survey (pdf) of federal police officers in February 2024 showed that 78.85 percent of the respondents had considered quitting their jobs in the past 12 months for various reasons.

Around 67 percent were concerned about the lack of staff and workload.

In addition, most officers believed a fair pay rise for the next three years to be 17 percent.

Response from Other Parties

Independent Senator David Pocock has called on the government to take action to improve the remuneration of the police force.

“Labor has talked a lot about same job same pay. If they really believe in it, then they need to put an end to AFP officers, including ACT Policing, being the lowest paid police officers in Australia,” he said on social media.

“They put everything on the line and deserve a fair deal.”

Meanwhile, Liberal MP Sussan Ley was concerned that the federal police was stretched and insufficiently funded.

“ASIO [Australian Security Intelligence Organisation] and AFP are stretched. We have to be aggressive. We have to get in front of this,” she told Sunrise.

“And we have to make sure that we resource our agencies properly.”