Kate Lundy (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The establishment of the National Police Service Medal was a 2007 ALP election commitment. In November 2010, the Minister for Home Affairs, the Hon. Brendan O'Connor MP, and I jointly announced that Her Majesty the Queen had approved the National Police Service Medal, the newest award to the Australian honours system.

The National Police Service Medal was developed in consultation with police and other stakeholders and is unique in the Australian honours system. The award does not just recognise length of service; it also recognises the quality of a police officer's service and requires an ongoing commitment from them to provide ethical and diligent service throughout their career.

The award sends a strong message of support to the 50,000 police men and women who devote their professional lives to serving their communities. The National Police Service Medal recognises the special status that sworn police officers have because of their role of protecting the community.

The letters patent establishing the National Police Service Medal states that its purpose is to 'accord recognition for the unique contribution and significant commitment of those persons who have given ethical and diligent service as a sworn member of an Australian police service'. The National Police Service Medal is a new type of award. It does not duplicate the purpose of any other award in the Australian honours system, and it is not a medal for long service by police. In fact, the National Medal will continue to recognise distinct periods of long and diligent service by police, as well as members of other services including fire, ambulance, corrective and emergency services, and voluntary search and rescue services. The National Police Service Medal will be awarded to recognise the unique character of service required throughout a policing career.

While a minimum of 15 years service will be required to qualify, the purpose of the National Police Service Medal is not to represent a distinct period, and there are no clasps for additional periods of service. It will be awarded once only upon completion of the minimum period, and recipients will need to continue to meet the standard required for the award in order to retain it. Poor conduct at any time following receipt can result in the medal being cancelled. In this respect, it is quite different from long service and good conduct medals. If a person's award is cancelled as a result of misconduct, there should be no expectation that it will be restored after a subsequent period of good conduct.

Another feature of the National Police Service Medal is that commissioners of police will be able to recommend awards for police officers who have served less than 15 years if they are killed in the course of their duties or if they are unable to continue to serve in a sworn capacity because of an injury or permanent disability sustained as a result of their police service. Commissioners will still need to be satisfied that the other requirements for the medal are met—that is, the service will need to have been ethical and diligent, and at least one day of service must be on or after 30 October 2008.

Today, the Prime Minister said she was honoured, both as Prime Minister and as the proud daughter of parents who were both police officers, to present the first National Police Service Medals at a ceremony here in Parliament House. Today's ceremony honoured 16 police officers, two from each of the state and territory police services nominated by their police commissioners as representing the best examples of the career police service in their jurisdictions. From the South Australian Police Force: Sergeant William Francis Bampton and Senior Constable First Class Jessie Kerr Hughes. From the Victorian Police Force: Inspector Michael Beattie and Inspector Kerryn Hynam. Her medal was accepted by Assistant Commissioner Wendy Steendam. From the Western Australian Police Force: Senior Constable Kevin Alfred Jones and Inspector Sharron Lorraine Leonhardt. From the New South Wales Police Force: Superintendent Doreen Esme Cruickshank and Senior Sergeant Stephen Raynor Horn. From the Queensland Police Force: Senior Sergeant Peter Bernard Banaghan and Senior Sergeant Monica Annette O'Mara. From the Northern Territory Police Force: Senior Constable Keith Richard Currie and Senior Constable Julie Anne Spurling. From the Tasmanian Police Force: Constable Anthony Ronald Buckingham and Detective Senior Constable Robyn Joan Button. And from the Australian Federal Police: Sergeant Natasha Myrtle Elliott and Superintendent Cedric John Netto.

The ceremony was a special occasion for the Prime Minister and her ministerial colleagues to honour the recipients in the presence of their family and friends, the state and territory police commissioners, and representatives of the Police Federation of Australia. The ceremony was also attended by a number of cabinet ministers, including the Hon. Robert McClelland MP, Senator the Hon. Joe Ludwig and the Hon. Brendan O'Connor MP. I was certainly privileged to be present as the Prime Minister's parliamentary secretary. The ceremony was also attended by the Leader of the Opposition, the Hon. Tony Abbott MP, and representatives of the Australian Parliamentary Friends of Police Group, Chris Hayes MP and Senator Stephen Parry.

The design of the National Police Service Medal and ribbon is particularly special because both were designed by two serving police officers, Rick Steinborn and James Cheshire. The medal will be finished in cupro-nickel. The St Edward's Crown, representing the sovereign, whom all Australian police officers ultimately serve, is located on the suspender bar. The front of the medal features the Federation Star located inside a circular chequered band, known as the Sillitoe Tartan. The Federation Star represents the national scope of the medal, while the Sillitoe Tartan is the internationally recognised symbol of policing. The back of the medal has two sprays of golden wattle, the national floral symbol, located immediately below a raised horizontal panel on which the recipient's details are engraved. The words 'for service as an Australian police officer' appear in capital letters around the inside of the outer rim. The ribbon has a central panel of three stripes of dark blue, gold and dark blue. The central panel is flanked by white panels, each bisected by a thin red stripe. Blue and gold are Australia's heraldic colours, and their appearance here symbolises the medal's relationship to other Australian medals for service. The combination of dark blue and white symbolises police service, consistent with the ribbon of the Australian Police Medal. The thin red stripes represent the ever-present hazards of police service.

The National Police Service Medal has been placed in the Order of Wearing Australian Honours and Awards immediately after the Civilian Service Medal 1939-1945. The National Police Service Medal has a more senior position in the order than long-service awards such as the National Medal and the Defence Long Service Medal. This positioning is justified because retaining the National Police Service Medal requires recipients to demonstrate a quality of service for the entire length of their careers as sworn police officers. This is a higher standard than is required for long-service awards, which only require that a quality of service is sustained up to the qualifying date.

In concluding, I would like to acknowledge the dedication of Australia's police commissioners and the Police Federation of Australia in helping to bring the government's commitment to fruition. I would also like to acknowledge my parliamentary colleagues Senator the Hon. John Faulkner, Senator the Hon. Joe Ludwig, the Hon. Brendan O'Connor MP and also the Hon. Bob Debus, a former member of the House. As cabinet secretary, Senator Faulkner and Senator Ludwig were in turn responsible for honours policy matters and each worked with officials and stakeholders to progress the National Police Service Medal through its consultation and approval stages. They worked closely with the Minister for Home Affairs, at first Mr Debus and later Mr O'Connor. Mr O'Connor deserves recognition for his extraordinary personal commitment to see this come to fruition. He has been a fantastic champion of the National Police Service Medal. By virtue of their positions, all of these colleagues were in regular contact with police commissioners and the federation as they brought crucial law enforcement perspectives to the process of developing this medal.

Most importantly, I want to acknowledge the police officers who protect us on a daily basis. I know the National Police Service Medal will be worn with special pride by today's recipients and by all their colleagues who are honoured with the medal in future. The National Police Service Medal demonstrates the admiration and gratitude of all Australians for those who are entrusted to uphold the law and keep the peace on our streets. This work is sometimes dangerous, but it is crucial to the maintenance of a civil society. Those police officers who honour the trust placed in them by serving ethically and diligently thoroughly deserve recognition through this new medal.

Senate adjourned at 22:28