Report a Commonwealth crime

The AFP has the jurisdiction to investigate:

• Commonwealth crimes (sometimes called federal crimes)
• Crimes that take place in the Australian Capital Territory.

On this page:

• What is a Commonwealth crime?
• Crimes that take place in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT)
• Commonwealth crimes which the AFP investigates
• What the AFP does not investigate
• How do I report a crime to the AFP?
• Contacts

What is a Commonwealth crime?

Commonwealth crimes are crimes that fall within the law-making responsibilities of the Australian government (sometimes called the Federal government).

State and Territory crimes are crimes that fall within the law-making responsibilities of State and Territory governments.

Knowing which crimes are Commonwealth and which are not can be confusing and complex. Below are some examples:

Examples of Commonwealth crimes - report these to the AFP

• Aircraft, airport and aviation crimes
• Child sex offences by Australians in foreign countries
• Drug importation and exportation
• People smuggling
• Human Trafficking - including trafficking for slavery, organ harvesting, sexual and/or labour servitude
• Online Child Exploitation (child abuse material)
• Terrorism
• Fraud against the Commonwealth government
• Theft from the Commonwealth government
• Assault on a Commonwealth official
• Threats against a Commonwealth official

Examples of State or Territory crimes – report these to your local police

• Abduction
• Assault
• Drink driving
• Drugs - drug dealers and drug users
• Fraud - including online and overseas frauds and scams
• Home invasions
• Kidnapping
• Missing persons
• Murder
• Rape or sexual assault
• Stalking - including online stalking
• Theft - including theft of mail once delivered
• Threats - including threats by phone, email, social networking sites, forums etc
• Traffic offences

Crimes that take place in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT)

Go to the ACT Policing site to find more information about crimes that take place in the ACT.

Commonwealth crimes which the AFP investigates

The AFP carefully considers all reports of Commonwealth crimes, however we do not have the resources to investigate every reported crime. We have to ensure we allocate our resources to the crimes which have the greatest impact to Australian society. The AFP's priorities are published on our web-site in our Case Categorisation and Prioritisation Model (CCPM). Visit How the CCPM is applied to read about how we make our decisions.

What the AFP does not investigate

The AFP does not investigate:

• Civil matters. This includes:
  • breach of contract
  • faulty goods or services
  • defamation
• State or Territory crimes - even when the crimes have occurred in more than one State or Territory, or where the suspects live in foreign countries – these are still the responsibility of State or Territory police who can seek assistance from interstate or foreign law enforcement as appropriate. In order to refer an investigation to a foreign law enforcement agency it is necessary to report the matter to your local State or Territory police. Once your local police have exhausted all possible avenues within Australia they can refer the investigation overseas using Interpol Canberra. Members of the public cannot report crimes directly to Interpol or foreign law enforcement. You must report crimes to your local police first.
• Some types of Commonwealth crimes unless they have been reported to the responsible Australian Government department or agency first. These include:
  • Crimes against an Australian agency or department, such as fraud against that agency or department
  • When another agency or department has the expertise to assess the crime themselves.

The table below lists some common complaints and crimes and shows you where you should report them.

How do I report a crime to the AFP?

You can report a Commonwealth crime online by using our form.

You can also post a written report to your nearest AFP office. Postal addresses for your nearest office can be found at the bottom of this page.

Have you included:

• Your name
• Your email address
• Your phone number
• Your address
• Times and dates
• Locations
• Names of people, including middle names and dates of birth
• Facts about the crime

Phone advice

Call your closest AFP Office if you:

• need help reporting a crime
• have questions about whether you should report a crime to the AFP

You cannot generally report a crime by phone but we will be happy to assist you in making a written report.

After hours you can call the AFP Hotline on 1800 813 784.

Terrorism

If you have information about possible signs of terrorism you should contact the 24 hour National Security Hotline on
1800 123 400.

Anonymous information

If you would like to provide anonymous information about any crime (State, Territory or Commonwealth crimes) please phone Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000 or go to www.crimestoppers.com.au.

Contacts

Operations Monitoring Centre (OMC) contacts