A return on investment: the future of police cooperation between Australia and Indonesia

This Special Report presents a strategy for the future relationship between Indonesia’s National Police—known as POLRI—and the Australian Federal Police (AFP). It draws on 60 interviews with current and retired police officers, officials from other Australian and Indonesian agencies, and academic experts in related fields. The report presents a strategy for the future POLRI–AFP relationship in two parts. The first paperexamines the near term to early 2015. POLRI and the AFP should first aim to restore full trust and cooperation in all relevant policing areas, especially in cybercrime. Early initiatives could include a 10‑year celebration for the Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Cooperation, workshops for future AFP and POLRI leaders, and a request for POLRI officers to support the AFP during the G20 meeting in November 2014. It would also be worth sponsoring an international ‘needs analysis’ for POLRI. Reinstating funding for the Law Enforcement Cooperation Program is needed to promote the AFP’s flexibility and responsiveness during this time. The second paper provides background, tracing the remarkable relationship between the Australian Federal Police and the Indonesian National Police from its early days, where the focus was on information sharing, through a journey into joint operations. The paper describes the numerous capability cooperation initiatives that the forces have undertaken, especially since 2002, and charts both successes and times where cooperation didn’t necessarily deliver as intended