On 16 October 2019, the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement commenced an inquiry into the development and introduction of an Australian Standard in relation to the training and use of privately contracted security and detection dogs, with particular reference to:

  1. the adequacy of current Australian arrangements, and the potential benefits of introducing a National Standard;
  2. funding, administration, and enforcement implications of the introduction of a National Standard;
  3. the nature and effectiveness of models adopted in overseas jurisdictions;
  4. any issues arising in the context of the work of law enforcement agencies, including the Australian Federal Police, in relation to the training and use of privately contracted security and detection dogs, or insights from law enforcement that might help guide the development of an appropriate National Standard;  and
  5. any related matters.

The purpose of this letter is to draw your attention to the inquiry and to invite you or your organisation to make a written submission. There is no requirement to address the full terms of reference and you may choose to comment only on the terms of reference that are of relevance to you. The committee would appreciate submissions by 17 January 2020.

The committee is seeking to publicise its work as widely as possible and would appreciate you referring this letter of invitation to any individual, group, or organisation that you think would like to contribute to the inquiry.

The committee is seeking written submissions in electronic form submitted online or sent by email to le.committee@aph.gov.au as an attached Adobe PDF or MS Word document. Alternatively, written submissions may be sent to:

Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600

Submissions should include contact details, should the committee or secretariat need to contact you. Personal contact details are removed from submissions before publication.

Please note that submissions are confidential until the committee releases them. You must not release your submission until the committee advises that it has accepted and released it publicly. Submissions are protected by parliamentary privilege but the unauthorised release of them is not.

The committee will normally make submissions public unless there is a request for confidentiality. If you would like your submission or part of it to be kept confidential please say so clearly in the submission. The committee will consider requests for confidentiality, but cannot make promises in advance. If you have concerns about confidentiality, I encourage you to call me to discuss this before lodging the submission.

Notes on making submissions are available from the website. The committee secretariat can also assist you: phone (02) 6277 3419 or email le.committee@aph.gov.au. More information about this committee is available at: www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business
/Committees/Joint/Law_Enforcement