AFP warn of foreign interference in Australian federal election

Australian Federal Police have revealed rampant “disinformation” campaigns online risk the integrity of the upcoming federal election.

Rampant “disinformation” campaigns online risk the “integrity” of the upcoming federal election, while “insidious” foreign interference is growing as a threat to Australia, the nation’s top cop has warned.

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw told a Senate Estimates hearing on Monday night diaspora communities around the community were at particular risk of being targeted by hostile foreign actors.

“This type of interference can include monitoring and harassing sections of the community seen as dissidents by authoritarian states,” he said.

AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw has warned of foreign interference and disinformation risk to Australian democracy. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Mr Kershaw said foreign interference efforts may also include attempts to “silence” members of a diaspora community from criticising the policies of regimes in countries to which they maintain links.

“Foreign interference is an insidious and resource-intensive crime, and one that I expect will continue to grow and converge with other crime types in Australia,” he said.

“But the AFP, ASIO and other partners have the technical expertise and legislative frameworks to arrest and bring offenders to justice.”

Mr Kershaw said most Australians “won’t see” or be “targeted” by foreign interference, but that did not reduce its impact on the community.

“It has the potential to affect every Australian because it erodes democracy and our institutions,” he said.

“It has never been more important for the AFP to protect Australia and the way Australians live.”

The diaspora community in Australia is particularly vulnerable to foreign interference, including through cyber espionage

Mr Kershaw also identified combating disinformation as a major priority for the AFP, particularly in the lead up to the 2022 federal election.

“I am … concerned about the prevalence of disinformation and the impact this can have on the integrity of our institutions and the election itself,” he said.

“Where disinformation reaches a criminal threshold — particularly where it urges or advocates violence — the AFP will be exercising the full force of its powers.”

Mr Kershaw said in the past financial year the AFP disrupted 266 criminal operations, including in the illicit drug trade, terrorism, child exploitation and cybercrime.

He said challenges in the area of cyber crime were “ever present” despite the AFP’s Counter Foreign Interference Taskforce’s “successful” disruption efforts, “including hostile foreign actors undertaking cyber-enabled espionage”.

The AFP has also focused its efforts on cyber crime that “directly affects Australians every day”.

“For example, we reached out to a major bank to stop millions of dollars from leaving Australia, after we identified the victim of a scam,” he said.

Mr Kershaw said the AFP was also at “heightened alert” to protect the “community, high-office holders, our democratic institutions and democratic values,” in relation to ongoing ‘pro-freedom’ and anti-vaccination protest activity in Canberra.

“For the past two months, ACT Policing and the AFP have been maintaining public order in … challenging circumstances,” he said.

Originally published as AFP warn of foreign interference in Australian federal election