S38 · 38 proposed systems11 preliminary illustrative gross scenarios27 uncosted systemsVerified whole-program net savings: not available
S01System 1 of 38

National Police

Unified regional commands, shared intelligence and specialist mobilisation.

S38, debt & governance framework · October 2026Status: proposed policyIllustrative gross scenario
On this page · Police

01

What changes, and what people should notice.

Operational reform

Unified regional commands, shared intelligence and specialist mobilisation.

What Australians could experience

Cross-border investigation, emergency reinforcement and portable police expertise.

Intended, conditional improvements — not guaranteed outcomes.

National framework

One consistent set of rules and standards for police across Australia.

Regional decisions

Local incident command, community policing and regional coverage remain where emergencies happen.

Local delivery

Frontline staff and service points remain in communities; duplicated back-office administration is the target, not frontline capacity.

02

Strategy and proposed delivery priorities.

  1. 1

    Establish a public baseline for police: laws, regulators, service locations, staff, contracts, information assets and spending in every jurisdiction.

  2. 2

    Develop system-specific national standards and safeguards around the specific reform proposed — unified regional commands, shared intelligence and specialist mobilisation — and test it against the stated protections before it is adopted.

  3. 3

    Pilot the model in representative metropolitan, regional and remote settings, with results published before migration is considered.

  4. 4

    Transfer functions only with lawful authority, workforce consultation and verified uninterrupted service; keep frontline delivery regional and local.

Safety & Justice group priorities

  • Agree common mobilisation, dispatch and information-sharing standards before any structural transfer.
  • Protect independent integrity, oversight and judicial bodies from operational or partisan direction.
  • Pilot shared platforms in metropolitan, regional and remote settings and publish response and complaint baselines.

Public register · proposal status, not a delivery claim

Evidence and the next decision gate.

Proposed policy onlyCurrent public stage

No system-specific evidence bundle is published or verified here. No approval, funding decision, authorised transfer or completed delivery is claimed.

Prerequisites before a design or pilot decision

  1. 01Earn a federal governing mandate; an election result at another level does not confer national powers.
  2. 02Publish independent legal advice on constitutional authority, affected laws and any state or territory agreement required before changing institutions or transferring functions.
  3. 03Establish a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction baseline for National Police, consult affected workers and communities, and publish the lawful options before deciding whether to proceed.
  4. 04Assess service continuity, regional access, workforce and the stated protections (Independent police integrity, local accountability) before any authorised design or pilot.
  5. 05Publish independently reviewable transition and ongoing costs; keep estimates, purchaser effects and gross scenarios separate from verified net savings.

Next decision gate

If a federal governing mandate is earned, publish the National Police baseline, legal options, consultation findings and independently reviewable costs. Only then decide publicly whether to proceed to detailed design or an authorised pilot; no transfer or rollout is implied.

A proposed gate is a condition for a future decision, not evidence that the decision has been made.

Supporting evidence to publish

These are evidence requirements for this proposal, not completed research or verified findings.

  • Legal and institutional baseline

    Map the laws, decision rights, regulators, providers and intergovernmental responsibilities that apply to National Police; identify constitutional questions and any required consent.

  • Service and outcome baseline

    Publish baseline and annual data on access, processing time, safety/quality, regional equity, complaints, gross efficiency, transition spending and verified net financial impact for national police.

  • Cost and feasibility assessment

    Validate the addressable baseline and these cost drivers — Procurement, fleet, ICT, training administration. — then publish transition, parallel-running and ongoing costs separately from benefits.

  • Safeguards and consultation record

    Document how the stated protections will be tested (Independent police integrity, local accountability), who was consulted, and how service continuity and regional equity will be monitored.

Official source starting points

These public bodies may hold relevant baseline material. Links do not mean that evidence has been collected, independently verified, or that any body endorses S38.

03 · proposed, not commenced

Phased rollout.

  1. Years 1–2

    Baseline and design

    Inventory relevant laws, regulators, service locations, staff, contracts, information assets and expenditures; identify overlaps with adjacent systems; consult affected workers, communities and users.

  2. Years 3–5

    Standards and pilots

    Develop system-specific national standards, safeguards and secure interoperability; pilot the proposed national police model in representative metropolitan, regional and remote settings; publish evaluation results.

  3. Years 6–10

    Controlled migration

    Transfer functions only after required approvals, establish regional delivery capability, migrate records and credentials, train personnel, operate parallel systems where necessary and verify uninterrupted service.

  4. Years 11–30

    Improvement

    Expand capacity, retire duplicative administration only where demonstrated, modernise platforms, reinvest verified efficiencies and review outcomes at five-year intervals.

04

Cost drivers and financial status.

proposed systems
38
preliminary illustrative gross scenarios
11
uncosted
27
verified net impact not available
N/A

Cost drivers · Procurement, fleet, ICT, training administration.

Mature annual gross scenario
$256.5m
Cumulative · 10 years
$1.58bn
Cumulative · 20 years
$4.14bn
Cumulative · 30 years
$6.71bn
Net impact
Uncosted

Annual mature gross savings $256.5m; cumulative gross savings 10 years $1.58bn, 20 years $4.14bn, 30 years $6.71bn. These are inherited modelling assumptions, not validated system-specific estimates; net impact remains uncosted.

Gross scenario, not a net or guaranteed benefit. Figures are inherited modelling assumptions in constant dollars. Transition costs, new operating responsibilities, National Service costs, inflation and discounting are excluded. No government-wide net saving is established.

S01 preliminary illustrative gross scenario, annual, on program ramp — not net, not verified
$0.0bn$0.5bn$1.0bnYear 1: annual $0.000bn, cumulative $0.000bnY1Year 2: annual $0.026bn, cumulative $0.026bnYear 3: annual $0.064bn, cumulative $0.090bnYear 4: annual $0.115bn, cumulative $0.205bnYear 5: annual $0.167bn, cumulative $0.372bnY5Year 6: annual $0.205bn, cumulative $0.577bnYear 7: annual $0.231bn, cumulative $0.808bnYear 8: annual $0.257bn, cumulative $1.064bnYear 9: annual $0.257bn, cumulative $1.321bnYear 10: annual $0.257bn, cumulative $1.577bnY10Year 11: annual $0.257bn, cumulative $1.834bnYear 12: annual $0.257bn, cumulative $2.090bnYear 13: annual $0.257bn, cumulative $2.347bnYear 14: annual $0.257bn, cumulative $2.603bnYear 15: annual $0.257bn, cumulative $2.860bnY15Year 16: annual $0.257bn, cumulative $3.116bnYear 17: annual $0.257bn, cumulative $3.373bnYear 18: annual $0.257bn, cumulative $3.629bnYear 19: annual $0.257bn, cumulative $3.886bnYear 20: annual $0.257bn, cumulative $4.142bnY20Year 21: annual $0.257bn, cumulative $4.399bnYear 22: annual $0.257bn, cumulative $4.655bnYear 23: annual $0.257bn, cumulative $4.912bnYear 24: annual $0.257bn, cumulative $5.168bnYear 25: annual $0.257bn, cumulative $5.425bnY25Year 26: annual $0.257bn, cumulative $5.681bnYear 27: annual $0.257bn, cumulative $5.938bnYear 28: annual $0.257bn, cumulative $6.194bnYear 29: annual $0.257bn, cumulative $6.451bnYear 30: annual $0.257bn, cumulative $6.707bnY30
Show values as a table
YearAnnual grossCumulative gross
1$0.000bn$0.000bn
2$0.026bn$0.026bn
3$0.064bn$0.090bn
4$0.115bn$0.205bn
5$0.167bn$0.372bn
6$0.205bn$0.577bn
7$0.231bn$0.808bn
8$0.257bn$1.064bn
9$0.257bn$1.321bn
10$0.257bn$1.577bn
11$0.257bn$1.834bn
12$0.257bn$2.090bn
13$0.257bn$2.347bn
14$0.257bn$2.603bn
15$0.257bn$2.860bn
16$0.257bn$3.116bn
17$0.257bn$3.373bn
18$0.257bn$3.629bn
19$0.257bn$3.886bn
20$0.257bn$4.142bn
21$0.257bn$4.399bn
22$0.257bn$4.655bn
23$0.257bn$4.912bn
24$0.257bn$5.168bn
25$0.257bn$5.425bn
26$0.257bn$5.681bn
27$0.257bn$5.938bn
28$0.257bn$6.194bn
29$0.257bn$6.451bn
30$0.257bn$6.707bn

Ramp: 0% in year 1, rising to full value from year 8. Red bars mark the 10, 20 and 30-year horizons. Values are this system's proportional share of the 11-system scenario.

Illustrative gross
Modelled potential before costs; not realised or independently audited savings.
Uncosted
No defensible savings amount is available.
Purchaser saving
A reduction in customer bills that may be offset elsewhere; not automatically a net national gain.
Program cost
New expenditure that must be reported separately from efficiency claims.
Verified net — not available
Independently audited realised cash savings less all incremental recurring and transition costs. No verified whole-program net amount exists.

05

Protections and risks.

System-specific protections

  • Independent police integrity
  • local accountability

Risks to monitor

Monitor service disruption, privacy, workforce impacts, unequal regional access and unintended consequences.

Democratic authority

Legally assess and obtain constitutional, referendum and any applicable state-consent approvals before institutional abolition or irreversible transfers.

National standards, regional delivery

Set consistent rights and technical standards nationally, with regional decision-making, accessible service offices and local frontline delivery.

Independent institutions

Protect courts, electoral bodies, integrity agencies, regulators and police oversight from partisan direction.

Uninterrupted public services

Protect emergency services, benefits, licensing, schools and healthcare throughout migration. Dual-running is a cost to plan for, not a reason to put continuity at risk.

Financial integrity

Report cashable savings, noncash efficiencies, transition spending, new operating costs and service outcomes separately. No government-wide net savings claim is established.

Participation and equity

Protect accessibility, remote communities, First Nations interests, worker rights, privacy, independent complaints and review.

06

Outcome measures to establish.

Publish baseline and annual data on access, processing time, safety/quality, regional equity, complaints, gross efficiency, transition spending and verified net financial impact for national police. Baselines come first; targets will only be set once independent baselines exist.

Access

Who can reach the service, where, and how quickly — including remote and assisted access.

Baseline: to be established

Processing time

Elapsed time from application, referral or call to decision or service.

Baseline: to be established

Safety and quality

Incidents, clinical or technical quality indicators and independent inspection findings.

Baseline: to be established

Regional equity

Differences in access and outcomes between metropolitan, regional and remote communities.

Baseline: to be established

Complaints

Volume, resolution time and independent review outcomes.

Baseline: to be established

Gross efficiency

Administrative cost changes before transition and new operating costs are subtracted.

Baseline: to be established

Transition spending

Every year of parallel running, migration, workforce, legal and technology expenditure.

Baseline: to be established

Verified net financial impact

Audited cashable savings minus recurring and transition costs.

Baseline: to be established

Living policy status

This page is part of a living policy library. Strategy papers, consultation responses, independent costings and delivery evidence will be added here as they are prepared. Nothing on this page reports completed delivery: the Party does not currently hold government, and every phase below is proposed.

  • Policy foundation · published
  • Strategy paper · forthcoming
  • Independent costing · forthcoming
  • Consultation report · forthcoming
  • Delivery evidence · forthcoming