Oceania

OPINION: Recent headlines around the Pacific island nations’ role in drug production and trafficking have seen comparisons made with Latin America’s cartel-dominated countries; but John Coyne, Director of National Security Programs at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, warns that the reality is much more nuanced, and that the way to tackle the ‘smugglers haven’ is through continued partnership and collaboration between Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific islands.

INNOVATION: Following the recent launch of a new framework and principles for the “ethical and responsible” use of artificial intelligence (AI) across police forces by the Australia New Zealand Policing Advisory Agency (ANZPAA), Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons spoke to ANZPAA Policy & Research Officer Anastasia Pierakos about the aims of the guidance, the need to ensure the police use of AI is not “siloed” within specialist teams, and the importance of addressing issues such as transparency, accountability and oversight.

FEATURE: A recent report into police-perpetrated family violence among officers from Australia’s Victoria Police is calling for an “urgent paradigm shift” away from the force’s role in responding to family violence to fund to more community-focused initiatives, amid concerns around a “culture of officers minimising and dismissing offending”, as well as colluding with perpetrators and misidentifying victim-survivors as perpetrators, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: The Australia New Zealand Policing Advisory Agency (ANZPAA) recently published its revised Anti-Racism and Cultural Diversity Principles, designed to provide a framework for police “to address racism and strengthen collaborative partnerships”; Jacqueline Durand, ANZPAA’s Assistant Director of Policy and Projects, explains why the Principles have been updated, the important differences between anti-racism and cultural awareness, and the vital role leadership plays in delivering this proactive approach.

FEATURE: The Australian Institute of Criminology’s latest Cybercrime in Australia report highlights that while the prevalence of victimisation for many cybercrimes has fallen since 2023, the overall chance of becoming a victim remains high, with almost two thirds of users experiencing cybercrime in the past year; apathy around online protective behaviours, and a drop in social media use meaning password aren’t updated, are also leaving users at risk, reports Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

OPINION: The New Zealand Parliament is currently considering a bill which could criminalise public protests that take place too close to people’s homes or private residences; but Professor Kris Gledhill of Auckland University of Technology argues that not only is the proposed legislation unnecessary given the laws already in place, but will be difficult for police to enforce, and unlikely to be upheld by the courts.

FEATURE: With serious and organised crime recognised by Europol as one of the greatest security threats currently facing the EU, Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the latest funding opportunities for police forces across the continent including the UK, as well as New Zealand and Canada, to develop projects seeking to improve the intelligence picture and the “enhanced prevention, detection and deterrence” of organised crime.

OPINION: New bail laws introduced in Victoria this summer aim to tackle repeat high-harm offending with a new ‘high-harm test’ and tougher rules on offences committed while on bail; but Kavitha Vipulananda, author, speaker and reform consultant, highlights Law Institute of Victoria concerns around disproportionality stemming from the new legislation, and urges the state Government to focus more on wraparound services and rehabilitation or risk repeating past failures.

OPINION: A judgment delivered this week by the Supreme Court of New South Wales, which found that a strip search carried out by New South Wales Police of festival goer Raya Meredith (the lead plaintiff in a class action) was unlawful, could have significant implications for the way police across Australia carry out strip searches, says UNSW Associate Professor and Senior Law Lecturer, Dr Vicki Sentas.

INSIGHT: The Australia New Zealand Principles for Mental Health and Wellbeing in Policing, published recently by the Australia New Zealand Policing Advisory Agency (ANZPAA), embrace “collaboration, evidence-informed practice, and shared accountability” to provide an actionable, proactive framework for a “modern, resilient, and mentally healthy policing environment”, as ANZPAA Assistant Director of Policy and Projects Jacqueline Durand explains.

FEATURE: The latest review of Queensland Police Service watch-houses – buildings designed to offer temporary accommodation for prisoners before transfer to prison or court – has highlighted increased stress and injury for staff due to poor working conditions, and facilities in widespread disrepair leading to damaging impacts on the health and wellbeing of detainees, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: Increases in knife-crime offences have prompted calls for the introduction of Jack’s Law in Victoria, an approach enabling police to carry out random ‘wanding’ searches for weapons that is already in place in several Australian states including Queensland and New South Wales; but Criminology Senior Lecturer Dr Joel McGregor of Swinburne University of Technology argues that research suggests the approach has little benefit, and that addressing prevention and support would be more effective.

OPINION: The growing Chinese policing influence and presence in Solomon Islands, including a law enforcement approach that focuses more on controlling communities than serving them, should raise concerns for Australia and its partners about what kind of policing model will define the Pacific’s future, warn Dr John Coyne and Raelene Lockhorst of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI).

OPINION: With research indicating that at least 12% of female respondents in intimate partner violence cases in Victoria are misidentified as perpetrators – and some organisations suggesting the figure, particularly for indigenous and migrant women, could be as high as 50% – Kavitha Vipulananda, author, speaker and reform consultant, sets out a range of reforms for police in Victoria and agencies more widely across Australia that could address the injustices based in systemic issues that are faced by vulnerable women.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: The ANZPAA Police Conference 2025 (PC25) will be held in Melbourne, Australia this November. Hosted by Police Commissioners from across Australia and New Zealand, the conference will centre around the theme “Policing for the Future: What Matters Most” - to Commissioners, frontline officers, and the communities they serve.

FEATURE: The recently published Queensland Police Service (QPS) Commissioner’s 100-day review has highlighted a force facing “significant mission creep” as officers perform roles outside their core remit, leaving many suffering from fatigue and burnout; the review also puts forward 65 recommendations providing a “fundamental opportunity” for QPS to reaffirm its core purpose and build a “resilient, responsive, and community-focused policing organisation”, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: The creation of an FBI legal attaché post in Wellington, New Zealand in July was hailed by the US as a way to counter “some of the most important global issues” such as the threat from China, as well as boosting regional crime operations; but University of Tasmania Policing Lecturer Dr Nick Evans warns that the move could in fact threaten existing policing partnerships that Australia and New Zealand have with China, forcing officers to engage in new levels of diplomacy to maintain cordial relations.

OPINION: With recent advice to New Zealand Associate Minister of Police Casey Costello that the country is “losing the fight” against organised crime, efforts to control the trade in illegal guns will be crucial in limiting gang activity; University of Waikato Professor of Law Alexander Gillespie argues that another buy-back of all guns that should be on the country’s register by the end of August 2028, and adopting the UN protocol on the illicit manufacturing and trafficking of firearms and ammunition, are steps the country needs to take.

OPINION: Following the publication this month of Australia’s National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program, which shows a surge in consumption across every major drug type in every region of the country, Dr John Coyne, Director of National Security Programs at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, argues that Australia’s national drug strategy is “in freefall”, and that law enforcement resources should be refocused on disrupting the infrastructure of illicit drug markets.

ANALYSIS: Recent horrific events and the accompanying media headlines have led some to believe Australia is in the grip of a knife crime epidemic; in this final article in a series from The Conversation on weapons and violence in Australia, Bond University Associate Professor Terry Goldsworthy explores the statistics around violent crime and weapons offences across Australia, and how the public perception in some quarters of a significant rise in crime is not reflected by the data.

ANALYSIS: Recent horrific events and the accompanying media headlines have led some to believe Australia is in the grip of a knife crime epidemic; in this third article in a series from The Conversation on weapons and violence in Australia, Griffith University Professor Janet Ransley warns that while police and politicians are focusing on tackling weapons in public, current approaches have little effect, with stronger efforts to target knife use in domestic violence likely to have greater impact.

INNOVATION: With the response to those in mental health crisis a challenge for policing in many jurisdictions, a new programme launched by New Zealand Police has seen handover times to emergency departments for those detained under the country’s Mental Health Act reduced to one hour, with a long-term aim of completing successful handovers within 15 minutes, as programme lead Inspector Matthew Morris explained to Policing Insight’s Tina Orr Munro.

ANALYSIS: Recent horrific events and the accompanying media headlines have led some to believe Australia is in the grip of a knife crime epidemic; in this second article in a series from The Conversation on weapons and violence in Australia, Macquarie University lecturers Professor Alex Simpson and Dr Vince Hurley argue that the latest crime data suggests the use of weapons and violent crime in the country is decreasing, and that compared to many other others, Australia fares well on these issues.

ANALYSIS: In the first in a series of articles from The Conversation on weapons and violence in Australia, Griffith University Principal Research Fellow Dr Samara McPhedran looks behind claims by the media and politicians that the country is in the middle of a violent crime crisis to explore the statistics and the real picture when it comes to the use of weapons and violent crime rates in Australia.