AFP Police Commissioner
Michael Joseph Keelty, APM
Date of Birth: 13 July 1954
Nationality: Australian
Mick Keelty was appointed Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police (AFP) – Australia’s international law enforcement agency - in 2001.
A career police officer with 35 years experience at local, national and international levels, Mr Keelty is the first Commissioner to have been appointed from within the ranks of the AFP and only the second to have served as Commissioner for two terms.
Since his appointment, the AFP has more than doubled in size and taken on major new responsibilities in the areas of counter terrorism, high tech crime, protective security and airport security, as well as in international peacekeeping and capacity building in the Asia-Pacific region.
These have included missions to Afghanistan, Sudan, East Timor, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea, and seen the global expansion of the AFP’s International Network to include some 34 posts in 28 countries, strengthening the fight against transnational crime at its source.
With responsibility for enforcing Commonwealth criminal law and protecting Commonwealth interests from crime both within Australia and abroad, the AFP investigates all types of transnational crime ranging from international drug trafficking, to online child exploitation, child sex tourism, sexual servitude, fraud, money laundering and identity crime.
As well as being Australia’s international law enforcement and policing representative, the AFP is also the chief source of advice to the Australian Government on policing issues and is a major contributor to Australia’s national security strategy. The AFP also performs the community policing role in the Australian Capital Territory.
With the AFP recognised internationally for its strategic crime fighting and capacity building partnerships, Mr Keelty has been appointed to numerous senior law enforcement positions domestically and abroad.
He co-chairs with Singapore the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering, which comprises 38 member countries and is affiliated with the Financial Action Taskforce – the international policy making body to counter money laundering.
Mr Keelty is Australia’s Interpol representative and, as a result of the collaborative relationships formed between the AFP and the Asian region, he represents Australia at ASEANPOL which includes the heads of 10 Asian police forces.
Commissioner Keelty also holds a position on the Board of Governance of the Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Cooperation (JCLEC), a joint training and capacity building initiative between Australia and Indonesia that is supported by nations around the world. JCLEC is situated in Semarang, Indonesia, and has delivered training and development programs to more than 3700 students since its establishment in July 2004.
Mr Keelty is also a member of the Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police Forum and the Australia and New Zealand Policing Advisory Agency (ANZPAA) Board of Management. ANZPAA provides cross-jurisdictional policing services including input into the strategic direction of Australasian policing. It also critically reviews issues to improve cross-jurisdictional information exchange and to provide an independent perspective for significant policing and law enforcement matters.
In Australia, Commissioner Keelty Chairs the Board of the Australian Crime Commission, membership of which includes counterparts from State and Territory Police and the heads of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, Australian Securities and Investment Commission, Australian Customs Service and the Attorney-General’s Department.
He is also a member of the Business Government Advisory Group on National Security, a group that promotes high-level dialogue between business and government on national security, and works closely with bodies such as the Trusted Information Sharing Network for Critical Infrastructure Protection (TISN).
He also chairs the Australian Institute of Police Management (AIPM) Board of Control. The AIPM provides executive training courses for emerging leaders from Australasian police services, and the Board of Control comprises Commissioner Keelty’s counterparts from State, Territory and New Zealand policing jurisdictions.
Commissioner Keelty holds a Master of Public Policy and Administration, a Graduate Certificate in Criminal Justice Education, is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management. He is also a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
He was awarded an Australian Police Medal for distinguished service in 1996 and in 2003 the Centenary Medal for service to the AFP.
In 2003, he also received Indonesia’s highest policing award from the President of Indonesia, in recognition of the AFP’s close cooperation with the Indonesian National Police (INP) in combating terrorism.
In 2008, the President of the Republic of Singapore, Mr Sellapan Ramanathan, presented Commissioner Keelty with Singapore’s Distinguished Service Order, in recognition of his contribution to strengthening the working relationship between the AFP and Singapore’s Police Force in addressing regional transnational crime.