Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner Krissy Barrett and Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) CEO Heather Cook will help spearhead new tech partnerships and AI solutions at a meeting with Five Eyes Law Enforcement Group (FELEG) agencies in London this week, amid growing online threats seriously impacting youth and vulnerable communities.
The high-level discussions – which will include representatives from high-profile tech companies – comes as Commissioner Barrett today outlines the serious concerns facing law enforcement agencies without cooperation from industry.
The FELEG meeting will run from 16-18 June, 2026, with the Federal Bureau of Investigations; the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement/Homeland Security Investigations; the US Drug Enforcement Administration; the Royal Canadian Mounted Police; the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency; the UK’s Counter Terrorism Policing, New Zealand Police; the ACIC and the AFP.
In the lead-up to the FELEG meeting, Commissioner Barrett and tech companies have been discussing opportunities to better work together.
“AI brings many opportunities, however, the AFP is also deeply concerned that AI is accelerating and lowering the skills required to actively target victims online,” Commissioner Barrett said.
“As technology advances exponentially, vulnerable people, including youth, will face the greatest harm.
“Youth who would not normally come on the radar of counter terrorism police are now under investigation or face being charged with serious offences, including sharing or creating violent extremist material, which is desensitising generations to abhorrent violence.
“A worrying trend is how victims are becoming perpetrators to try to escape their online bullies who have befriended and groomed them, and then forced them to hurt themselves. For example, a victim may be told they will no longer be a target if they share videos of them hurting themselves or someone else.
“Then there are the kids who are manipulated by influencers or are radicalised by hate preachers or are self-radicalising online. Fearing they will be judged for being curious or asking questions about polarising issues, they go looking for answers online, often spiralling into hate, misogynistic or anti-authoritarian echo chambers.
“Current detection, reporting and investigative approaches cannot keep pace with the scale and speed of harm that is coming our way.”
Commissioner Barrett said the AFP needed to work with responsible tech companies to help keep the country, and other like-minded countries safe, because online crime was global and was not constrained by state boundaries.
“Responsible tech companies can be the digital penicillin of our time, and we know many of them want to work with agencies like the AFP,” Commissioner Barrett said.
“For example, law enforcement understands the behaviours, patterns and early indicators associated with online child exploitation or coercion.
“We also have thousands of referrals and large amounts of chat logs where offenders have groomed children, which provides a training dataset to inform AI tool development to identify these behaviours and threat indicators.
“Technology companies understand how activity appears on their platforms, what they collect and retain on customers and how safety features or detection tools can be built.
“Together, we could improve algorithms that identify suspicious patterns earlier. We can build chatbots and encourage industry to build engines that steer suspects onto education and deterrent paths and support victims to seek help.
“On gaming platforms, bots can identify predatory behaviour and warn children as well as identify and monitor conversations, including seeking additional information that could assist in law enforcement referrals.
“This can elevate from reactive reports and referrals to law enforcement, to technology companies developing solutions that detect and disrupt harm before it occurs.”
ACIC CEO Heather Cook said partnerships were key to helping keep the community safe from online harms, noting organised crime groups were also increasingly leveraging technology to outsource violent crime, as seen in a range of arson attacks, shootings and other violent acts.
“We work closely with the AFP, state and territory partners and our international counterparts to take a united approach to tackling transnational and tech‑enabled crime,” Ms Cook said.
“This work shows the strength of international partnerships, which are essential in disrupting serious organised crime and protecting our communities in an increasingly connected world.
“Increasing our collaboration with industry and technology providers is a critical enabler to countering today’s tech-enabled threats, and ensuring safety-by-design is a key design principle in future technology platforms.
“Criminals are prepared to commit increasingly violent and more reckless crimes to build their reputation and promote their services.
“The ACIC is focused on delivering intelligence‑led outcomes that allow us to stay ahead of evolving threats, working closely with our partners to target criminals wherever they operate.
“Criminals exploiting technology and borders should be on notice – we are watching and our collective efforts will make it significantly harder for them to hide.”
