Australian Defence Force Investigative Service
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 2007 |
| Preceding Agency |
|
| Jurisdiction | Defence Force Discipline Act, Commonwealth of Australia |
| Headquarters | Canberra |
| Minister responsible | |
| Agency executive |
|
| Parent department | Department of Defence |
The Australian Defence Force Investigative Service (ADFIS) is the body responsible for complex and major investigations involving the Australian Defence Force. The ADFIS conducts investigations of serious incidents and breaches of the Defence Force Discipline Act involving persons subject to DFDA jurisdiction. The ADFIS is a 'tri-service' unit and is manned by 150 members of the Royal Australian Navy, Australian Army and Royal Australian Air Force. It was established in 2007 and is headquartered in Canberra.
The ADFIS is commanded by the Provost Marshal ADF who reports directly to the Chief of the Defence Force.
Members of ADFIS are known as 'Investigators' rather than 'Agents', and as members of the Defence Force hold a rank within either the Army, the RAN or the RAAF.
The ADFIS investigate criminal matters as well as to support ADF command with the provisions of investigations into breaches of military discipline and breeches of the State and Territory Acts.
Apart from one additional arrest power they have no other powers in law to perform their duties. They are not a legislated law enforcement agency nor are they in any way an extension of any other civil law enforcement providers. They are military members performing an investigative role for the benefit of maintaining ADF discipline only. Their scope, experience and training is therefore quite narrow compared to other investigative agencies. Apart from overseas operations they are generally not armed or carry appointments such as capsicum spray or batons.
Most ADFIS members are not from policing backgrounds but are drawn from existing tri service police corps, musterings and categories. Within Australian borders all serious crimes involving ADF members are investigated and dealt with by respective state and federal police forces, not the ADFIS. The use of designations such 'police' and 'crime' within the context of the ADFIS are duplicitous since the only real reason for the existence of ADFIS is to support command in maintaining discipline. All ADFIS members are given a cert 4 in government fraud investigations on completion of several week long in-house training courses. Some ADFIS members may have opportunities to undertake courses with external agencies throughout their careers but undertaking those courses rarely translate to putting learning into practise. For instance, undertaking a SOCO course does not translate into opportunities to dust for fingerprints or swap for DNA at real incidents. This is because such incidents are limited within the ADF and on those occasions would be managed by relevant state or federal police forces anyway.
History
The ADFIS was established after a specific recommendation of the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Reference Committee from the report ‘The Effectiveness of Australia’s Military Justice System’ released in 2005. In April 2006, the position of the Provost Marshal of the Australian Defence Force directly under the Chief of the Defence Force was established and the Defence Investigative Capability Audit found the need for a tri-service investigative capability. In October 2006 the Chief of the Defence Force and Service Chiefs agreed to the formation of the ADFIS from the unification of personnel from the policing and investigative capabilities of each Service.
The ADFIS is the unification of the separate policing capabilities of each of the three services, but each service still maintains its own capabilities. The Royal Australian Navy maintains the Naval Police Coxswain branch with NPC postings on HMA ships and shore establishments. The Army maintains the Royal Australian Corps of Military Police which include general duties police members. The Royal Australian Air Force maintains the Air Force Police (formerly Security Police) which also includes general duties police members.
References
- "Australian Defence Force Investigative Service Fact Sheet" (PDF). Retrieved 2008-05-17.
- "ADF Investigative Service open for business" (Press release). The Hon. Dr Mike Kelly Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence. 2008-05-15. Retrieved 2008-05-17.
External links
- Department of Defence MIlitary Justice Reform
- Department of Defence REPORT ON THE FINDINGS OF THE INVESTIGATION OF MEDIA ALLEGATIONS THAT DEFENCE STAFF INVESTIGATED THE MINISTER FOR DEFENCE