Building improvements, more input from the public and demonstrated improvements in cultural diversity are among the 38 recommendations for changes to the contractual agreement between the ACT government and the Australian Federal Police.
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The bipartisan Standing Committee on Justice and Community Safety, which is responsible for scrutiny of the ACT's police and emergency services, presented its report after receiving 12 submissions, including from the ACT Human Rights Commission, the Australian Federal Police Association, the ACT Ombudsman and the Australian Federal Police.
The current five-yearly contractual arrangement between the ACT government and the federal police expires next year.
The government pays the AFP $164.9 million a year for the service.
The contract comprises a purchase agreement, an arrangement, a business plan and a set of ministerial directions. What remains unclear is whether any recommendations adopted by the next government would be addressed in the agreement, or through an expanded set of ministerial directions.
The ACT police contract is a unique one nationally, and hasn't been the subject of an audit since 2016, when one was conducted semi-internally by the Justice and Community Safety directorate, which pays the police bill and has oversight on specific elements of their activity and infrastructure.
Prior to that, eight years ago a report by the Australian National Audit Office found the AFP was "effectively managing the delivery of policing services to the ACT".
However, the committee report throws up a number of key matters and places them on public record, which will force a reassessment or at least further considered examination and explanation from the next ACT government formed after the forthcoming election.
ACT police building maintenance issues and the "rectification of the unworthy nature of the accommodation", including the cramped and unsuitable Gungahlin station shared with ambulance and firefighters, receive specific attention in the recommendations.
Both are issues which have been repeatedly raised by the police association and more recently, have been the subject of a workplace investigation.
The committee has also asked that the next policing agreement include "a plan for regions of the city currently experiencing a significant distance from current operational stations".
Areas such as Oaks Estate and Fyshwick, which has recently seen a number of ram raids and aggravated burglaries, are particularly at risk during the evenings and early mornings, as are the expanding areas of the Molonglo Valley, including Coombs and Wright.
The committee is also seeking a "significant shift in culture and practice regarding traumatic mental injuries which police and many of our first responders experience".
The chair of the committee, Liberal member Giulia Jones, said there should be "no more allowing injured police being treated like they are broken because they got injured at work and put their hands up for help".
"We want to get in early and help keep them working as long as they are able and want to work," she said.