Law enforcement in Australia is facilitated by police, sheriffs and bailiffs under the control of state, territory and the Federal governments. A number of specialist agencies also administer a wide variety of legislation related to white-collar crime.
The police are responsible for the criminal law. The sheriff, sheriff's officers [1] and bailiffs in each state and territory are responsible for the enforcement of the judgments of the courts exercising civil law (common law) jurisdictions.
In Australia there are two distinct, but similar levels of police force, the various state police forces and the Australian Federal Police (AFP). The state police forces are responsible for enforcing state law within their own states (including cities within the states) while the AFP are responsible for the investigation of crimes against Commonwealth law which occurs throughout the nation. The AFP also have responsibility for a community policing role (similar to the state police) in Commonwealth territories such as the Australian Capital Territory. The boundaries between the two levels of law enforcement are somewhat flexible and both state and federal police co-operate on or transfer cases between each other depending on the specific circumstances.
The AFP also provide Liaison Officers to various overseas posts to assist in relations with various police forces overseas, as well as providing community policing officers to assist in the development of local law enforcement agencies and peacekeeping operations in locations such as the Solomon Islands with the RAMSI mission and Cyprus for example. The AFP is only 30 years old having been borne out of the old Commonwealth Police whilst the various State Police Forces were established in the 19th century.
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The Australasian Police Professional Standards Committee (APPSC) was an organisation that served all Police Jurisdictions around Australia and New Zealand. APPSC was the peak body for police education and training in Australia and New Zealand, the Council comprising each of the Police Commissioners from Australia and New Zealand along with the President of the Police Federation of Australia and the President of the New Zealand Police Association. On 9 November 2007, APPSC Directorate was closed and the roles and functions were amalgamated into the ANZPAA.
Crime Stoppers programs run in each state and nationally. Crime Stoppers collects information about crime and passes it on to the police ensuring that the community can participate in crime fighting.
CrimTrack is an intergovernmental policing agency that supports Australian policing through the provision of forensic and other information and investigative tools between State and Federal Police Departments. The National Automated Fingerprint Identification System (NAFIS) is national fingerprint database, administered by CrimTrack.[2]
Each State as well as the Northern Territory is responsible for maintaining its own police force which is responsible for policing at the state and local level. This involves general law and order, traffic policing, major crime, anti-terrorism branches, water police, search and rescue and in some states transit police. Local policing in the Australian Capital Territory, Jervis Bay Territory and Australia's external territories is contracted to the Australian Federal Police (AFP).
In some states, local governments employ by-laws officers or rangers to enforce local by-laws or ordinances relating to such matters as parking, dog ownership, retailing, littering or water usage. These local government officers are not considered to be police forces as they generally only have the power to issue fines and do not have the same powers as state police. They may rely upon appointment as a Special Constable or legislated powers for their authority.
State police also perform certain functions on behalf of the Australian Government such as the enforcement of various Commonwealth Acts and Regulations in conjunction with the Australian Federal Police and other Commonwealth officers.
While ACT Policing is under the jurisdiction of the Australian Federal Police, the following policing agencies are regulated by their respective State or Territory Government and are highly visible:
In recent years, the states and territories have returned the responsibility of recovering court ordered fines to their sheriffs. In practice, the police often carry out the functions of sheriffs and bailiffs in the country and more sparsely populated areas of Australia. The office of sheriff was first established in Australia in 1824. This was simultaneous with the appointment of the first Chief Justice of New South Wales. The role of the sheriff has not been static, nor is it identical in each Australian State. In the past his duties included: executing court judgements, acting as a coroner, the transportation of prisoners, managing the gaols, and carrying out executions (through the employment of an anonymous hangman). Currently, no Australian State provides for capital punishment. A government department (usually called the Department of Corrections or similar) now runs the prison system and the Coroner’s Office handles coronial matters. The sheriff is now largely responsible for enforcing the civil orders and fines of the court (seizing and selling the property of judgement debtors who do not satisfy the debt), providing court security, enforcing arrest warrants, evictions, taking juveniles into custody and running the jury system. Some State Sheriffs can also apply a wide range of sanctions ranging from suspending drivers licenses and car registration through to wheel clamping and arranging community service orders and finally as a last resort make arrests.
Council rangers are officers employed by Local Government Areas in Australia to enforce the by-laws of those local governments and a limited range of state laws relating to such matters as litter control, animal control, dog laws, fire control, off-road vehicles, emergency management, and parking. Unless they are also sworn as special constables, rangers do not have full police powers. A Council Ranger is also referred to as "Local Laws Officers" in some of Australia's eastern states.
By agreement between the various Commissioners, most police cars in Australia are predominantly white, Tasmania's are blue, with a blue and white Sillitoe Tartan checkered strip on the side. Some jurisdictions also have fluorescent orange stripes surrounding the tartan. Most general patrol cars are Holden Commodores and Ford Falcons. Prisoner transport vehicles are based on light commercial vehicles such as the Holden Rodeo, Holden Crewman or Mercedes Vito. Highway Patrol vehicles are higher performance sedans, often in colours other than white. Emergency lights on police vehicles are now generally blue and red; historically though, blue lights were used for police vehicles and red lights for fire engines and ambulances.
Police are now increasingly employing the use of a diverse range unmarked police cars. These vehicles include, besides the Commodore and the Falcon, the Chrysler 300C, Toyota Aurion, Toyota Corolla, Ford and Holden Ute, Holden Monaro, Ford Focus XR5, Subaru Impreza WRX, and the Volkswagen Golf. In rural areas, SUVs such as the Toyota Land Cruiser, Ford Territory, Nissan Patrol, and the Hummer H3 are used.
Most Australian police services have mounted police units which are prominently used for ceremonial purposes, although in states like New South Wales, South Australia, Western Australia and Victoria the mounted police also undertake operational policing duties on a daily basis.
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