FED:Auditor comfy with progress of AFP

AAP General News (Australia)
02-16-2011
FED:Auditor comfy with progress of AFP

By Peter Veness

CANBERRA, Feb 16 AAP - The Australian Federal Police (AFP) force has been given a big
tick from the national auditor despite still grappling with its rapid growth since the
2001 terror attacks.

The cost of running the force rose, on average, 12 per cent every year since 2001.

With that has come many bureaucratic difficulties in handling the growth of a force
which has had to undertake new tasks.

While the national audit office has raised concerns in the past, it has offered broad
praise of how the force is coping with implementing new government policy.

But it still wants improvement.

In its report, tabled in the Senate on Wednesday, the auditor says police are still
struggling to deal with new policy directions handed to them by government.

"The auditor found little progress had been made in implementing strategies to build
organisational knowledge," the report says.

Four recommendations have been made with the police agreeing to all of them.

The recommendations centre around better organisational structure and therefore better
capability.

Responding to the report, the force asked for its position to be seen in the context
of the last decade's growth.

"The Australian National Audit Office found the Australian Federal Police to be generally
successful," the force said.

AAP pv/sb/jfm

KEYWORD: AFP

� 2011 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.