An Australian model for training peacekeepers in just weeks and a new Pacific policing bloc are being pitched as ways to counter growing global security concerns.
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett will this week suggest all 193 United Nations member states adopt a cheaper and more agile approach to training that has been rolled out by her force.
She will detail the method, which has been successful in Timor Leste, during a speech to the United Nations Chiefs of Police summit in New York. Australia is hosting the summit for the first time.
"When we say leaner, we mean a program delivered in five weeks instead of many months," she is expected to say in her address.
The comment will be made just a week after the United Nations cut its peacekeeping budget by 10 per cent for the 2026/27 financial year, down to $5.1 billion, amid ongoing questions about financial stability.
"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," Commissioner Barrett will say.
Another 50 officers will be trained under the Pacific program's second tranche in July, in addition to the 100 already upskilled. Another course is scheduled for early 2027.
Commissioner Barrett also hopes to shore up support for a new Pacific policing block, known and PACPOL, to improve security in the region.
"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," she will say.
A decision is expected to be made by Pacific police chiefs in October about whether they will agree to the arrangement.
While Australia is now a formal ally of Fiji and has agreements with Tuvalu, Nauru and Papua New Guinea, the Pacific is one of the only regions without specialised intergovernmental policing.
Australia committed $190 million to the Solomon Islands police force in 2024 and is now eyeing up another treaty with the nation. It would counter a 2022 arrangement made between the Solomons and China, giving Beijing the right to send armed forces in.
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale, who visited Australia last month, said he would review the arrangements with China. Negotiations on the potential treaty with Australia have begun.
Commissioner Barrett will also use her trip to meet with FBI director Kash Patel, New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch and Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commissioner Mike Duheme.
