AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett will encourage the United Nations to protect UN Police Peacekeeping missions by adopting a leaner, more sustainable and more agile Australian training model.
In a historic address to the UN in New York on Wednesday (8 July, 2026), Commissioner Barrett will encourage 193 member states to replicate a successful AFP Police Peacekeeping program delivered to Pacific police last year.
The address comes as Australia - for the first time - hosts the biennial United Nations Chiefs of Police Summit (UNCOPS), the UN's premier global forum for international policing cooperation. Commissioner Barrett will lead the police delegation.
In her address, Commissioner Barrett - who will also sign new agreements in North America with the private sector, law enforcement and defence agencies to boost Australia's safety - will outline how Australia heeded the UN's call for a new model for police peacekeeping training and missions.
Acknowledging ongoing member conversations about the financial sustainability of UN Police Peacekeeping missions, Commissioner Barrett will detail how UN trainers from the AFP, the Pacific and around the globe created a leaner, more agile training program, which was reduced from months to five weeks.
Last year, the AFP and Pacific Police Chiefs delivered the first residential UN-accredited program of its kind to more than 100 Pacific officers, and members from Timor-Leste, at Pinkenba in Brisbane. The pass rate was 73 per cent.
Some Pacific Police Peacekeepers have already deployed to the UN Mission in South Sudan. A second program for a further 50 officers will start on 27 July, 2026, with another course scheduled for early 2027.
"When UN member states adopted the Pact for the Future in 2024, they agreed peacekeeping must become more agile and better tailored to today's challenges," Commissioner Barrett said.
"Australia took that call seriously.
"With our Pacific partners, we built a leaner, more sustainable police training model, without lowering the bar.
"When we say leaner, we mean a program delivered in five weeks instead of many months.
"When we say more affordable, we mean a model member states can actually sustain year on year, not one that strains a peacekeeping budget already under pressure.
"And, when we say more agile, we mean police who can be trained closer to home and deployed where they're needed, faster.
"Cost matters because sustainability matters. Member states have been candid about the financial pressure on UN peacekeeping.
"A leaner training model means more countries can contribute capable, UN-ready officers without the price tag that has held them back. That's how you protect police peacekeeping for the long term."
Commissioner Barrett's address at the UN General Assembly will focus on the theme of the Vision for the Future of United Nations Police.
Commissioner Barrett and three Pacific Police Chiefs will also speak in several UNCOPS forums in New York from 7-8 July, 2026, where a proposal for a new regional Pacific bloc to ensure sovereignty and security are determined by the Pacific will be detailed.
Botswana, Canada, Fiji, Kiribati, Norway, Sweden and Tonga will also co-host the Australian side event, which is themed around Different Shores, Common Threats: Case Studies in Transnational Organised Crime. Co-sponsors are the Federated States of Micronesia, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.
Commissioner Barrett, who had set a priority to supercharge the AFP's global operations so more crime could be stopped offshore before it reached Australia, said multilateral forums were a key lever in keeping countries safe.
"National security is regional security and global security. By sitting at the table with about 140 UN member states, we can meaningfully shape the frameworks that will empower police collaboration, not just for now, but for the generations to come,'' Commissioner Barrett said.
"I have recently returned from the Five Eyes Law Enforcement Group meeting in London where we agreed to better work together to protect our kids from radicalisation, target the nihilistic online groups brutalising vulnerable communities and use technology to help stop online scam centres stealing the nest eggs of our hard-working citizens.
"Now, the AFP will put on the table some of Australia's biggest concerns and how we could use the UN's strategic direction of global policing to help safeguard our country.
"One of my priorities is to champion the views and role of Pacific Island Police Chiefs, who want a greater say at global forums about security and safety matters that concern their region.
"A decision will also be made by Pacific Chiefs of Police in October about whether they will agree to a new bloc, PACPOL. This will allow them to collectively establish priorities, with one voice at global and regional forums."
The Commissioner will also meet with key government agencies and private sector partners.
New or expanded Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) will be signed that strengthen frameworks in areas such as intelligence sharing, digital financial flows, and supply chains and logistics, all of which are critical to dismantling transnational organised crime.
The MoUs will also give the AFP the authority to provide some of the legal and operational frameworks to run joint operations and drive capability development initiatives that make policing more effective. The instruments the AFP will sign include:
- Extension of MoU with the US Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division on combating transnational crime, combating acts of violence and developing law enforcement cooperation;
- MoU with FBI on combatting transnational crime, combatting terrorism and developing law enforcement cooperation;
- MoU with PayPal on cooperation and information exchange.
Commissioner Barrett is also scheduled to meet with FBI Director Kash Patel, Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Terry Cole, New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch and Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commissioner Mike Duheme.
Ongoing discussions will also be held with tech companies as the AFP encourages a new co-design of practice to help keep kids safe.
Commissioner Barrett will also officially open the AFP's newest post in Ottawa, Canada, on Friday (10 July, 2026).
AFP Deputy Commissioner Capability Ian McCartney will perform the duties of Commissioner while Commissioner Barrett is overseas.
