EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULES 1982 NO. 199
AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT)
ISSUED BY MINISTER FOR ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES
There are at present two Associations of members of the Australian Federal Police (AFP), the Commonwealth Police Officers’ Association (CPOA) and the Federal Police Association (FPA), which are protected under the Australian Federal Police Regulations (the Regulations) and which are the only representatives of AFP members which may appear before the Federal Police Arbitral Tribunal. The Associations have now agreed to merge into a single organisation to be known as the Australian Federal Police Association (AFPA), and have asked that the Regulations be amended to facilitate the process and to confer the same protection and privileges on the new Association as were enjoyed by its predecessors. The most important of these amendments are:
• the repeal of the present provision protecting the names CPOA and FPA and its replacement by a similar provision protecting the name AFPA;
• the replacement of those present provisions which contemplate the existence of two associations by provisions which refer to a single association;
• the repeal of those present provisions which are rendered superfluous by the existence of one rather than two associations; and
• the opportunity has been taken to repeal a provision which refers to membership of the Federal Police Disciplinary Board, the Board having been replaced by the Federal Police Disciplinary Tribunal established under the Complaints (Australian Federal Police) Act 1981 and the Australian Federal Police (Discipline) Regulations (Amendment) SR 1982 No 90.