Cybercrime levels prompt Australian Federal Police restructure

The Australian Federal Police is citing the complexity of dealing with cybercrime as one of the drivers behind a restructure announced today.

Under the restructure, there will now be four executives supporting commissioner Reece Kershaw: deputy commissioner for national security Ian McCartney, acting deputy commissioner crime Grant Nicholls, ACT policing chief police officer Neil Gaughan, and deputy commissioner international and specialist capabilities Lisa Gale.

Gale is only the second woman to reach deputy commissioner status in the AFP.

“This restructure comes as the AFP’s remit continues to increase, in part driven by the complexity of cybercrime and other tech-enabled criminality,’’ commissioner Kershaw said.

Kershaw also cited legislative frameworks including national security laws as driving the decision to split crime and national security responsibilities.

Nicholls has been given a remit to develop and manage crime and cybercrime strategies, the AFP said in its announcement.

He was formerly AFP assistant commissioner learning and development.

Cybercrime is also the focus of one of the many assistant commissioner appointments announced in the restructure.

Assistant commissioner Scott Lee will lead the cyber command, dealing with the “entrenched and growing threat” the AFP said is targeting “governments, businesses, academia, financial institutions, critical infrastructure and citizens.”

Deputy commissioner McCartney, who formerly had responsibility for cybercrime as well as transnational crime and counter terrorism, will now focus on national security matters, as well as aviation, protection, and security.