The Commonwealth Police (COMPOL) was the federal law enforcement agency in Australia between 1917 and 1979. A federal police force was first established in 1917, and operated under different names and in some periods as multiple organisations. In late 1979, the Commonwealth Police and Australian Capital Territory Police were merged to form the Australian Federal Police (AFP).
Commonwealth Police Force (1917–1919)
Initially, after the six British colonies in Australia federated in 1901, there was no police agency to enforce federal (Commonwealth) laws. Instead, the various state police forces were called upon by the Commonwealth as required.
During the latter stages of World War I, there was considerable tension within Australian society, particularly over the issue of introducing military conscription. On 29 November 1917, at a public rally over this issue in the rural Queensland township of Warwick, an egg was thrown at Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes. The offender was charged under Queensland state law, whereas Hughes wanted a Commonwealth charge preferred. The incident, and the perceived lack of action on the part of the Queensland Police, was the last straw for Hughes, who had spent months arguing and fighting with the government of Queensland, led by its anti-conscriptionist Premier T. J. Ryan, over a range of issues. Hughes doubted the loyalty of several prominent Queensland politicians and public servants, and felt that it was necessary to create a Commonwealth Police Force to ensure that Commonwealth law was adhered to in what he regarded as a "rogue" state.
Under the War Precautions Act, 1914, Hughes quickly created a plain-clothed police force, which commenced operations in mid-December 1917. Hughes claimed Australia was at risk from possible revolt or similar action by organisations associated with either Irish nationalism, left wing and anti-war activities, such as Sinn Féin and the Industrial Workers of the World. At its peak the Commonwealth Police Force numbered about 50 men, almost all of whom were based in Queensland, despite the force notionally being a national one. Commonwealth Police had full police powers for federal offences, but their main task was to report on subversive activities of those opposed to the war and/or the Commonwealth government. Tensions between the Queensland and federal governments flared up a number of times, including during and after a federal police raid on the Queensland Government Printer's Office.
The Investigations Branch and the Commonwealth Police (1919–1941)
After World War I ended, the Government began to wind the force down. In 1919 it was formally disbanded and the few remaining officers at this time were merged with the remnants of the military's Special Intelligence Bureau to form the Investigation Branch, which was later known as the Commonwealth Investigations Branch (CIB). Like the Commonwealth Police Force, the CIB was administered by the Commonwealth's Attorney-General's Department.
CIB had offices located in most of the states' capital cities. The agency, which never had more than about 100 staff, had two roles. The first role was to investigate offences against Commonwealth laws and to better coordinate the investigative capacity of the various Commonwealth Departments. The second role was to conduct special intelligence investigations and mount surveillance on any left-wing groups the Government felt to be subversive of national security.
The Commissioner of the Commonwealth Police Force from 1917 to 1919 was William Anderson, a former Inspector in the New South Wales Police.
Major H. E. (Harold) Jones replaced Anderson just before the Commonwealth Police was formally disbanded. Jones became the head of the Special Intelligence Bureau and led the Investigation Branch; among the hallmarks of his time in office was a single-minded focus on suppressing left-wing groups of any sort, ranging from trade unions to the nascent Communist Party of Australia.
During World War II the CIB's special intelligence functions were largely handed over to the Commonwealth Security Service (CSS).
Security Service of the Commonwealth Investigation Branch
When Jones retired, in 1943, he is said to have refused to hand over codes given to him by MI5, and sent a secret report on CIB's activities to the head of MI5, Sir David Petrie. In a letter (dated 31 December 1943), Jones told Petrie: "The Government having decided that my retirement should take place at the end of the present year, I am sending you a brief review of the work of the Security Section, which I have had the especial honour of controlling, particularly as your representative, for the past 27 years."