The Australian federal police professional standards team tasked with investigating sexual harassment and discrimination received 95 complaints in a three-month period, with a third relating to senior officers.

Greens senator Nick McKim says the figures confirm a deep-seated culture of “pervasive sexual harassment and bullying” within the organisation.

In August 2016 the AFP released a report by former gender discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick into the AFP’s gender and inclusion practices.

The report identified serious concerns within the AFP surrounding sexism, and found that sexual harassment and bullying was rife.

The AFP commissioner, Andrew Colvin, said the practices would not be tolerated, and committed to a series of reforms including a new team tasked with investigating sexual harassment allegations.

In response to questions from McKim in Senate estimates from October 2016 that were released last week, the AFP has confirmed that in the three months since the report was released there were 95 complaints lodged with the Safe Place unit.

At the time of the estimates hearings, 29 of these complaints were made against senior AFP officers that held the rank of superintendent or higher.

“Since the release of the report on 22 August 2016 to 3 November 2016, AFP Safe Place has received 95 referrals,” the AFP’s response said. “There have been a total of 29 initial referrals received about AFP senior members. It is not appropriate to comment any further as these matters are ongoing.”

Greens senator Nick McKim said: “The sheer number of complaints against senior members of the AFP in such a short period of time is very concerning.”

“It vindicates Broderick’s findings of pervasive sexual harassment and bullying, and deep-seated cultural problems within the organisation.”

“It is crucial that all bullying and sexual harassment allegations are treated appropriately, particularly since the Broderick review revealed a lack of faith in the executive to deal with complaints.”

The AFP’s response added: “Providing a response in relation to contrasting our previous historical recordings will be more meaningful at the six-month interval, as the quantitative data will be more indicative of the impact of the report.”

It is unclear how many of those allegations have been finalised, and whether or not any have resulted in adverse findings against AFP officers. Six months have elapsed since the report was released, and Guardian Australia has asked the AFP whether it could now provide further data on the complaints.



The AFP declined to respond to any questions about the the complaints.

Guardian Australia understands that the commissioner will provide an update on some aspects of the complaints at the next Senate estimates hearings, which are set to be held next Tuesday.

The AFP has not been forthcoming with information about whether it has launched investigations.



Guardian Australia lodged two freedom of information (FOI) requests with the AFP for details about whether any specific investigation files existed following Broderick’s report.

The AFP took the unusual step of refusing to confirm or deny the existence of any professional standards reports.

“It is reasonable to expect that, in some instances, revealing the mere existence of the notional document could jeopardise an ongoing investigation, by allowing an individual to deduce such an investigation is occurring,” the AFP’s FOI decision maker wrote.

“I also find that it is possible, although unlikely, that should a confidential source in the notional document be identified in this way it could endanger the physical safety of that source.”

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