Australia
Criminal investigations in Australia
Who investigates — the state and territory police for offences against their own law, the AFP for Commonwealth offences — feeding a prosecution decision that follows the same split.
Facts on this page were checked against their sources on .
Criminal investigation in Australia follows the division of the law. Offences against state or territory law — most crime — are investigated by that jurisdiction's police force (or, in the ACT, by the AFP delivering ACT policing). Offences against Commonwealth law are investigated by the Australian Federal Police. The investigation then feeds the matching prosecutor: the state or territory DPP, or the Commonwealth DPP.
The same idea, explained generally
- What is a criminal investigation?
A criminal investigation is a legally authorised process for establishing whether an offence occurred and gathering evidence that can be tested in court. This guide explains its structure, safeguards, and known failure modes.
- What is due process?
Due process is the requirement that the state follow fair, established procedures before it takes action against a person. This guide explains what it typically includes and how it differs between systems.
Sources
Sources
Australian Federal Police Act 1979 (Cth)
Federal Register of Legislation (legislation.gov.au) · Legislation · 1979 · link verified 2026-07-26
The statute constituting the Australian Federal Police as the Commonwealth police. Supports that a function of the AFP under s.8(1)(a) is 'the provision of police services in relation to the Australian Capital Territory', subject to s.8(1A), which lets the Commonwealth Minister and the ACT arrange for that provision — the statutory hook for the AFP delivering ACT community policing. The register serves the section text through a single-page application; the section wording was obtained by search retrieval of the official page, and the arrangement itself is quoted from the AFP's own ACT-Policing page (read directly). No verbatim quotation of the Act is asserted from a page not read in full.
How we differ from state and territory DPPs
Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (cdpp.gov.au) · Government publication · link verified 2026-07-26
The Commonwealth DPP's own account (official page, obtained by search retrieval; cdpp.gov.au blocks automated fetching). Supports that the CDPP prosecutes offences against COMMONWEALTH law, while offences against state and territory law are prosecuted by the relevant state or territory Director of Public Prosecutions — the Commonwealth/state split in prosecution. Structural facts only; no verbatim quotation is asserted from a page not read in full.
Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act (the Australian Constitution)
Parliament of Australia (aph.gov.au) / Federal Register of Legislation · Legislation · 1901-01-01 · link verified 2026-07-26
The founding instrument, read verbatim from the official Parliament of Australia consolidated PDF. Supports: s.51, the ENUMERATED legislative powers of the Commonwealth ('The Parliament shall ... have power to make laws for the peace, order, and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to' 39 heads) — there is NO general criminal-law head; s.107 (Saving of Power of State Parliaments): 'Every power of the Parliament of a Colony which has become or becomes a State, shall, unless it is by this Constitution exclusively vested in the Parliament of the Commonwealth or withdrawn from the Parliament of the State, continue' — so residual power is RESERVED to the States (the US model, the inverse of Canada); s.71 (the judicial power of the Commonwealth vested in the High Court of Australia and other courts); s.77(iii) (the Commonwealth may invest a State court with federal jurisdiction); and s.122 (the territories power). Establishes that criminal law is largely a State/Territory matter with no national code. WAVE 20 ADDITION. Read from the same Federal Register of Legislation text. Supports Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, s. 51(vi): “(vi.) The naval and military defence of the Commonwealth and of the several States, and the control of the forces to execute and maintain the laws of the Commonwealth:”. Supports Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, s. 61: “The executive power of the Commonwealth is vested in the Queen and is exerciseable by the Governor-General as the Queen's representative, and extends to the execution and maintenance of this Constitution, and of the laws of the Commonwealth.”. Supports Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, s. 119: “The Commonwealth shall protect every State against invasion and, on the application of the Executive Government of the State, against domestic violence.”. Cited for the constitutional footing of Commonwealth defence and protective power and for the State-application condition in s. 119. It supports no claim about State or Territory emergency law, none of which was read, and no claim about any other country.