PLEACH – Clasp (AFP)

In June 2007 the Australian Government announced the Northern Territory Emergency Response Initiative. This is a whole-of-government operation initiated to assist in the protection of children in remote indigenous (i.e. Aboriginal) communities from sexual and other abuse. The initiative followed the release in April 2007 of the Little Children are Sacred report by the Northern Territory Board of Inquiry into the Protection of Aboriginal Children from Sexual Abuse. Operation PLEACH, which
commenced on June 25, 2007, was the AFP contribution to the initiative.

Eleven AFP officers were sworn in as special constables of the Northern Territory Police (NTPOL) and one of these officers was embedded into the NTPOL command structure. Since this time additional AFP officers have joined the contingent and have also been sworn in as special constables of the NTPOL. Members of the AFP involved in Operation PLEACH are awarded the AFP Operations Medal with clasp PLEACH.