24/08/2026
MORE RESPONSIBILITIES MUST COME WITH MORE FUNDING AND FAIRER PAY FOR THE AFP
The Australian Federal Police Association says the latest figures outlining the cost of the AFP’s growing protective security responsibilities reinforce the need for the Federal Government to properly fund the organisation, support Commissioner Barrett in meeting increasing operational demands, and ensure the AFP workforce is appropriately recognised and remunerated.
The Australian Financial Review has reported that the AFP spent $523 million on protection activities in 2024-25, with increased costs linked to the federal election, Western Sydney International Airport and Australia’s AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine program.
AFPA President Alex Caruana said the figures should not be interpreted as the AFP choosing protection over counter-terrorism or other serious crime priorities.
“The AFP does not get to pick and choose the responsibilities placed upon it. The Federal Government sets priorities, creates new responsibilities and expects the AFP to deliver.
“Commissioner Barrett and the AFP workforce are being asked to protect politicians and Commonwealth infrastructure, police major airports, support AUKUS, investigate terrorism and violent extremism, tackle serious organised crime, combat child exploitation and cybercrime, and deliver community policing in the ACT,” Mr. Caruana said.
The AFPA acknowledged that successive federal budgets have provided additional funding to the AFP, including for protective security, AUKUS, Western Sydney International Airport and serious organised crime.
The 2026-27 Budget increases total AFP resourcing from approximately $2.48 billion to $2.66 billion. Average staffing, however, is forecast to increase by only 101 positions, from 8,094 to 8,195.
The AFPA said the issue is not simply whether the AFP receives more funding from one budget to the next. Much of that additional funding is attached to new or expanded responsibilities, meaning headline funding increases do not necessarily translate into greater capacity to manage existing workloads.
At the same time, staffing allocated to Federal Policing in the Budget is forecast to fall from 3,998 to 3,956, while resources are increasingly required across protective security, aviation, international policing and AUKUS.
Mr. Caruana said that the AFPA supports Commissioner Barrett and the AFP in delivering these responsibilities, but Government cannot continually add new work and assume the organisation can absorb it within existing resources.
“Moving people to meet new priorities does not make the work they were previously performing disappear,” Mr. Caruana said.
The AFPA said the growing workload is stretching staffing across the organisation and increasing the pressure on existing personnel. Every new operational responsibility requires people, training, equipment, technology and
infrastructure, and without sustained workforce growth those demands are spread across an already heavily committed workforce.
Mr. Caruana said the real question is whether Government is providing the AFP with enough people and resources to perform all of its responsibilities properly and safely.
“Continued pressure to identify efficiencies while expanding the AFP’s workload also creates a risk that financial savings begin to affect operational capability. If staffing is continually stretched across competing priorities, the result will be greater workloads, more overtime, increased fatigue and burnout, and the loss of experienced personnel.
“That creates risks for our members and could ultimately have serious consequences for the Australian community,” Mr. Caruana said.
The growing operational workload also highlights what the AFPA says is a fundamental problem with how Government treats the AFP and its workforce.
Unlike a conventional Commonwealth department, the AFP operates around the clock across policing, law enforcement and national security. AFP officers and Protective Service Officers carry fi****ms, make arrests, respond to critical incidents and work in environments involving significant physical and psychological risks. The broader AFP workforce also supports complex intelligence, cybercrime, forensic, international and national security operations.
Mr. Caruana said this operating environment is why Government must stop treating the AFP as though it is simply another public service department, and its workforce as though they are simply another group of public servants.
“The Government cannot demand the capability of a national police force while applying a public service approach to the way its workforce is funded, staffed, paid, supported and retained. The AFP is a national policing and national security organisation, and Government policy needs to recognise that reality.
“This distinction must also be recognised during negotiations for the next AFP Enterprise Agreement.
AFP police officers remain among the lowest-paid police officers in Australia on base salary, despite regularly working alongside officers from better-paid state and territory jurisdictions and performing comparable work in complex operational environments,” Mr. Caruana said.
The AFPA firmly believes the next enterprise agreement must address remuneration, allowances, rostering, fatigue, overtime, retention and recruitment, while giving the AFP greater ability to compete with other Australian policing jurisdictions.
Mr. Caruana said it is increasingly difficult to justify an AFP officer performing comparable work and facing comparable risks while being paid substantially less than colleagues in other jurisdictions.
“The next enterprise agreement cannot simply be approached as another Australian Public Service bargaining exercise.
“Sustainable funding, adequate staffing and competitive pay and conditions must be treated as part of the AFP’s operational capability, not as separate workforce issues,” Mr. Caruana said.
Media Contact AFPA Media and Government Relations Manager Troy Roberts, (02) 6285 1677, [email protected]
