Page 3457 - Week 10 - Thursday, 20 October 2022
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Over a period of 26 years, Audrey Fagan embarked on a career path that included a range of challenging areas, including the fraud squad, juvenile justice, general crime investigation, policy development and political liaison. She also sat on many community boards and committees, making a valuable contribution to many facets of policing.
Audrey Fagan also earned a reputation for her work in helping to prosecute sexual assault cases. In the mid-1990s, she was handpicked to work with the up-and-coming Mick Keelty on an internal investigation into sexual harassment in ACT Policing. While the outcome of that investigation was the dismissal of 13 police officers, the two women who initiated the complaints were also victimised by the investigative process.
In 2005, 25 years after arriving in Canberra, Audrey Fagan was appointed as the ACT’s Chief Police Officer, at the same time filling the role of an assistant commissioner of the Australian Federal Police. She was only the second woman, after Victoria’s Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon, to be placed in charge of policing in a jurisdiction.
Tragically, for Audrey, her family, her friends, the Canberra community and the policing community, Audrey paid the ultimate price and did not survive the complex challenges of her working environment; she ended her life on 20 April 2007, in the context of an attack on her professional competence by the media.
The Canberra community recognised Audrey’s contribution, establishing several scholarships in Audrey’s name. Firstly, there is the Audrey Fagan Post-Graduate Scholarship, which provides moneys to encourage women from the ACT to further their studies and professional development in the areas of law enforcement, care and protection, or professional support services for women who are victims of violence. There is the ACT government Audrey Fagan Churchill Fellowship, an annual fellowship available to women pursuing an overseas investigative project in areas related to law enforcement, care and protection, or professional support services for women who are victims of violence. There are also the Audrey Fagan Young Women’s Enrichment Grants, which provide young women with moneys for the opportunity to further their interests and participate in a mentoring relationship.
These are very tangible and appropriate tributes to the memory of Audrey Fagan. However, there is a great deal of sadness and a sense of loss amongst those who knew and loved her.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all ACT police officers, who serve with great integrity, commitment, accountability, fairness, trust and respect.
MR RATTENBURY (Kurrajong—Attorney-General, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Gaming and Minister for Water, Energy and Emissions Reduction) (3.56): I rise to speak briefly in support of this motion today. It is important that we recognise the contribution that members of the police force make in our community. They frequently deal with people in the worst moments of a person’s life, as a victim or dealing with situations where people’s behaviour does not meet community standards. They are constantly confronting situations that the rest of the
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