The nation's top cop has warned police officers they should be "acutely aware" their actions on the beat could be filmed and shared on social media.
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Speaking at the signing of the ACT Policing purchase agreement in Canberra, Australian Federal Police Commissioner Andrew Colvin said the proliferation of social media and the 24-hour news cycle presented fresh challenges for law enforcement agencies.
"Police need to be acutely aware, acutely aware, that everything we do, everything they do, in their daily interactions with the community will likely be filmed and scrutinised.
"This is the world that we live in.
"But as police commissioner and as police, I believe we must embrace this and we must always be accountable for the way we serve the community."
Indigenous broadcaster NITV lodged a formal complaint against the Australian Federal Police after journalist Myles Morgan claimed he was intimidated by officers while filming a scuffle between police and participants in a march in Canberra on Anzac Day.
Last year an ACT Policing officer was found to have breached professional standards after CCTV footage showed him using capsicum spray towards a tethered dog during a property search.
But it was terrorism and national security matters that Commissioner Colvin, who stepped into the role in September last year, believed would dominate his term.
Commissioner Colvin said police faced greater challenges under the heightened terrorist threat alert, and terrorism instilled a sense of fear the Australian community was not used to.
He was "greatly concerned" about Australian children being preyed upon by terrorists and lured overseas as foreign fighters.
"We're concerned they continue to target those in the community who are young and vulnerable through mechanisms like online social media, where parents and the older generation don't have the same level of understanding, then they're starting to make headway.
"There's no reason the ACT should think they are any more immune than any other part of Australia.
He encouraged parents to get involved with their children's online behaviour and have open discussions so they would feel comfortable reporting any suspicious behaviour.
