Australian Federal Police Launch Probes Into 10 Election-Linked Offences

As per data, 600 officers logged 43,000 hours; four individuals charged, six investigations still ongoing.

Voters receive there ballots from Australian Electoral Commission volunteers at a pre-polling centre inside the Brisbane City Hall in Brisbane on May 2, 2025. PATRICK HAMILTON/AFP via Getty Images

It wasn’t just politicians clocking long hours during the federal election campaign. Over 600 Australian Federal Police (AFP) officers worked tirelessly between March 28 and May 3 to protect all candidates contesting the 2025 election.

According to data from the AFP, this year’s election saw 51 crime reports assessed by the Electoral Investigations Coordination Cell (EICC), resulting in 10 formal AFP investigations.

So far, four individuals have been charged with state-based election offences, while 28 matters have been finalised.

Fifteen criminal complaints were either initiated by other agencies or referred for investigation, with six investigations still active and two cases under ongoing evaluation.

“The AFP is marking the successful conclusion of Operation Australis25, delivering protective security measures for all Parliamentarians and candidates in the 2025 Federal Election, including the mitigation of threats and incident response,” the force said in a statement on 19 May.

Complaints And Deployments Managed Nationwide

AFP Commander Mark McIntyre said the force dedicated over 43,000 hours to election operations, including protecting senior officeholders, addressing active and potential threats, and probing election-related criminal complaints.

“In partnership with state and territory police, our teams responded to incidents to ensure candidates and Parliamentarians could campaign without fear of violence or intimidation,” he said.

Officers from the Specialist Protective Command were stationed nationwide to implement intelligence-driven security tailored to local threat assessments.

In a separate case, a Ballarat man was charged in April for allegedly sending threatening emails to a federal MP’s office on 27 March, just ahead of the campaign period.

Spate of Assaults, Vandalism Peaks In Final Week

Australian Electoral Commissioner Jeff Pope said the final weeks of campaigning saw a rise in troubling incidents.

“Very vast majority of polling centres and party workers and candidates absolutely doing the right thing,” he told ABC Radio, but noted that certain hotspots in inner Melbourne and Sydney’s Wentworth electorate required police involvement.

A volunteer for billionaire Clive Palmer’s Trumpet of Patriots party was assaulted in Pakenham while distributing how-to-vote cards.

Footage posted by online commentator Rukshan Fernando and later shared by Senator Ralph Babet showed a man in a bike helmet appearing to knee and punch the volunteer.

In NSW’s Hunter region, One Nation campaign signage was destroyed, prompting party leader, Senator Pauline Hanson, to share video evidence online.

Meanwhile, Greens candidates also reported vandalism. Posters of Senator Mehreen Faruqi and Grayndler candidate Hannah Thomas were defaced with swastikas in Sydney suburbs Erskineville and Stanmore.

“Incredibly disappointed by some of that behaviour, and we‘ll continue to call the police and we’ll continue to pull whatever levers we possibly can to try and make this the best voting experience for the voter,” Pope said.