Australian Federal Police Categories of Conduct Determination 2006 (Cth)

Australian Federal Police Categories of Conduct Determination 2006

Australian Federal Police Act 1979

WE, MICHAEL J KEELTY, Commissioner, Australian Federal Police and JOHN McMILLAN, Commonwealth Ombudsman make this Determination under subsection 40RM (1) of the Australian Federal Police Act 1979.

Dated 13 December 2006

 MICHAEL J KEELTY   JOHN McMILLAN

Commissioner, Australian Federal Police   Commonwealth Ombudsman

1              Name of Determination

This Determination is the Australian Federal Police Categories of Conduct Determination 2006.

2              Commencement

This Determination commences on the day after it is registered.

3              Definitions

In this Determination:

Act means the Australian Federal Police Act 1979.

AFP Code of Conduct means the AFP Code of Conduct as published by the AFP on 30 December 2006.

4              Categorisation

For subsection 40RM(1) of the Act, conduct is conduct of a particular category if it is described in a table in the Schedule relating to that category.

Schedule

Table 1  Category 1 conduct issues

Description	Examples
Minor breach of the AFP Code of Conduct	A breach of the AFP Code of Conduct that is minor or customer service related
Discourtesy	Includes rudeness, abruptness, abuse and derisory attitude or behaviour
Inadequate service	Includes failing to provide a service or facility in an adequate, professional or appropriate manner
Advice failure	Includes failing, in the course of duty, to provide appropriate or correct advice
Unreasonable delay	Includes unreasonable delay in dealing with an issue
Failure to act	Includes instances where no action by an AFP appointee is taken and was warranted

Table 2  Category 2 conduct issues

Description	Examples
Breach of the Code of Conduct	A breach of the AFP Code of Conduct that involves inappropriate conduct or unsatisfactory behaviour
Excessive force (on property)	Includes the use of force against property that was not authorised by a warrant or the law
Threat of Force (person)	Includes instances where a threat to use force against a person was not warranted or authorised by a warrant or the law
Fail to comply with direction or procedure	Includes failure to comply with orders, directions, procedures or other requirement with which it was the duty of the AFP appointee to comply but does not include serious breaches of any such requirements
Unwarranted attention	Includes harassing or taking action in relation to a person that was not warranted at all or not warranted at the level which occurred.
Inappropriate behaviour	Includes actions that fail to meet the standards of behaviour reasonably expected of an AFP appointee or of AFP appointees generally
Driving misconduct	Includes driving in an inappropriate manner whilst on duty, or whilst off duty and not in an official vehicle, being under the influence of an intoxicating substance when in control of a vehicle
Traffic enforcement matters	Includes failing to follow procedures or laws relating to traffic enforcement
Property holding failure	Includes causing or failing to prevent avoidable loss, damage or destruction of property or exhibits held by the AFP
Property accounting failure	Includes failure to return property or exhibits held by the AFP or to account properly for its whereabouts or disposition
Property unauthorised use/removal of	Includes unauthorised or improper use or removal of property or exhibits held by the AFP
Failure to record or report	Includes failing to report or make and retain an adequate, accurate and appropriate record of a matter which the AFP appointee had a duty to record or report
Information misuse (access or inadvertent disclosure)	Includes accidental or unintentional access or disclosure of information which the AFP appointee had a duty not to disclose or should not have had access
Inadequate investigation	Includes failure to conduct an adequate investigation, including in cases where any failure has been identified by court, prosecution or oversight body
Warrant administration	Includes all matters relating to the execution of a warrant and the failure to maintain accurate records relating to the warrant administration
Poor performance	Includes conduct where an AFP appointee’s performance is consistently poor and has failed to respond to improvement strategies
Supervision failure	Includes failure by supervisor to provide proper supervision of performance of subordinates
Diligence failure	Includes unauthorised absences, lateness and lack of attention to duties by an AFP appointee

Table 3  Category 3 conduct issues

Description	Examples
Serious Breach of the Code of Conduct	A serious breach of the AFP Code of Conduct
Serious Breach of  directions or procedures	Includes serious breaches of any order, direction, procedure or other requirement with which it was the duty of the AFP appointee to comply
Property Misconduct	Includes tampering with or destroying property or exhibits held by the AFP without authorisation or justification or for any improper purpose
Excessive Force (on person)	Includes using force against a person that was not justified by a warrant or the law
Threat of Force (involving weapon)	Includes threatening to use more force than was warranted or lawful, involving a weapon, against a person
Discharge firearm	Includes any discharge of a firearm except lawful discharge during firearms training, testing, animal destruction or bomb disposal duties
Forgery	Includes counterfeiting or falsifying a document or thing
Fraud -  Commonwealth	Includes dishonestly obtaining a benefit or avoiding a liability imposed by a law of the Commonwealth by deception or other means
Criminal conduct	Includes a breach of any criminal law other than Commonwealth fraud
Unlawful Discrimination	Includes breaching any legislative obligation applying to the AFP in relation to discrimination on grounds specified in legislation.
Sexual Harassment	Includes any instances where an AFP appointee sexually harasses another person contrary to legislation
False information/ statement	Includes providing false or misleading information, or swearing to a statement known to be false
Information Misuse	Includes improperly disclosing or failing to protect from improper disclosure, sensitive information held by the AFP
Information Access	Includes unlawfully or improperly accessing AFP information
Death in custody	Includes any circumstances where a person dies while held by or subject to the control or direction of the AFP
Misuse of authority	Includes any use of an AFP appointee’s position to improperly obtain advantage, cause detriment or influence others
Neglect of duty	Includes any action or failure to act that constitutes a serious neglect of duty
Intimidation	Includes any use of an AFP appointee’s position or powers to unlawfully or improperly threaten, harass, intimidate or vilify another person
Drug Misconduct	Includes returning a positive drug test or screening, refusing a drug test or screening  or tampering with a drug test or screening of any sample
Driving misconduct	Includes serious breaches by an AFP appointee of any traffic legislation and includes being under the influence of an intoxicating substance when in control of any AFP vehicle