Roman Alexander Quaedvlieg APM (born 8 January 1965) is a Canadian-born Australian former[5] public servant and police officer who was the Commissioner of the Australian Border Force (ABF) from 1 July 2015 until May 2017 when he was put on paid leave while an investigation took place. He was dismissed from the position in March 2018 after an investigation found that he had failed to comply with disclosure requirements regarding a relationship with a woman.[6]

Roman Quaedvlieg
Commissioner of the Australian Border Force
In office
1 July 2015 – 15 March 2018
Preceded byNew creation
Succeeded byMichael Outram
Comptroller-General of Customs
In office
13 October 2014 – 15 March 2018
Preceded byMike Pezzullo
Succeeded byMichael Outram
CEO of Australian Customs and Border Protection Service
In office
13 October 2014 – 30 June 2015
Preceded byMike Pezzullo
Succeeded byRole abolished
Chief Police Officer of ACT Policing
In office
2010–2013
Preceded byMichael Phelan
Succeeded byRudi Lammers
Personal details
Born
Roman Alexander Quaedvlieg

Toronto, Ontario, Canada[1]
SpouseKristine Pajda (2004–2017)[2][3]
Domestic partnerSarah Rogers[4]
Alma mater
Law enforcement
service
  • QPS (1985–2000)
  • ACC (2002–2005)
  • AFP (2005–2013)
  • ACBPS (2013–2015)
  • ABF (2015–2018)

Previously he served as a police officer in Queensland, then with the Australian Federal Police. He then joined the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service (ACBPS) as deputy chief executive officer, later becoming its chief executive officer. When the ACBPS was merged into the new Australian Border Force, he became its inaugural commissioner and Comptroller-General of Customs.

Education

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Quaedvlieg was educated at Redcliffe State High School.[1] Quaedvlieg has a Bachelor of Justice from the Queensland University of Technology, and a Master of Business Administration from the Melbourne Business School (MBS) of the University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.[7]

Career

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A career police officer, Quaedvlieg served as a sworn member of the Queensland Police Service for 15 years, where he performed duties in a range of positions investigating and managing serious and organised criminal activity.[7] From 2000 to 2002 he was an executive with Ansett Australia.[1]

2005

In 2005, Quaedvlieg joined the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and assumed the position of Manager Economic Operations, with responsibility for financial and economic investigations including money-laundering, large-scale fraud against the Commonwealth, proceeds of crime recovery, identity crime enforcement, and the management of the Oil-for-Food Task Force.[7]

In 2007, Quaedvlieg was promoted to Assistant Commissioner at the AFP and assumed responsibility for Border Operations, which encompassed investigations of major drug importation and trafficking, people-smuggling activity, sexual servitude, and child sex tourism offences. Quaedvlieg has also performed the role of National Manager Aviation (at the Assistant Commissioner level) and was the AFP Chief of Staff for a period of time, a role which incorporated responsibility for the governance mechanisms of the AFP, including Ministerial Liaison, National Media and Marketing, Legal Services, Professional Standards, Recognition and Ceremonial, and Executive Services.[7]

2010

In 2010, Quaedvlieg became the chief police officer of ACT Policing, the branch of the AFP responsible for providing policing services to the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).[7]

Quaedvlieg was awarded the Australian Police Medal (APM) in 2011 for serving the Australian community with distinction, particularly in the areas of police operations and administration.[8]

In 2013 Quaedvlieg joined the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service (ACBPS) as deputy chief executive officer.[9] In October 2014 he succeeded Mike Pezzullo as chief executive officer.[10]

With the introduction of the Australian Border Force (ABF) in 2015, Quaedvlieg became the inaugural Commissioner of the Australian Border Force and the Comptroller-General of Customs.[11]

2017

As of 29 May 2017[12] he was on leave pending an active investigation conducted by the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity into Quaedvlieg's alleged abuse of power.[13] The investigation examined his assistance in obtaining employment at Sydney Airport for a person he was in a relationship with,[14][15] and concealing that relationship. Quaedvlieg declined to resign, stating that to do so would be "tantamount to a concession of culpability".[16] Martin Parkinson, the secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet also wrote a report on Quaedvlieg's behaviour, and Christian Porter, the attorney-general, was asked to rule on the case to avoid questions of disfavour that may have arisen had Peter Dutton ruled on Quaedvlieg's case.[17] There was media criticism that Quaedvlieg was on paid leave during this time,[18] and reportedly was paid in excess of $500,000 between May 2017 and February 2018.[17]

In March 2018 the Governor-General, acting on the advice of the Australian cabinet, terminated Quaedvlieg's appointment as commissioner on the grounds of his misbehaviour.[19][20][21]

Honours

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Honours and awards Date awarded Citation
  Australian Police Medal (APM) 26 January 2011 [22]
  National Police Service Medal 2016
  National Medal 2005
State

Personal life

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Quaedvlieg has three children.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Who's Who in Australia 2016, ConnectWeb.
  2. ^ Mills, Tammy (25 December 2014). "Boxing Day tsunami anniversary: Customs chief executive Roman Quaedvlieg recalls rescue efforts". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  3. ^ Markson, Sharri (27 October 2017). "Border boss Roman Quaedvlieg yet to be grilled on girlfriend's job offer". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  4. ^ Maley, Paul (17 March 2018). "Ex-ABF chief Roman Quaedvlieg's girlfriend quits job". The Australian. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  5. ^ "Sacked border boss exchanged 14,000 texts with lover". News Corp. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  6. ^ Belot, Henry (15 March 2018). "Roman Quaedvlieg, Australian Border Force boss, sacked after helping girlfriend get job in force". ABC News. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  7. ^ a b c d e "Roman Quaedvlieg APM". Australia Department of Immigration and Border Protection. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  8. ^ "Australian Police Medal (APM)" (PDF). Governor-General of Australia. 2011. p. 317. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  9. ^ Knaus, Christopher (26 April 2013). "ACT top cop moving to Customs". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  10. ^ "Secretary of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection" (Press release). Prime Minister of Australia. 2 October 2014. Archived from the original on 4 July 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  11. ^ "Australian Border Force starts work". The Courier-Mail. 1 July 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  12. ^ "Border Force boss Roman Quaedvlieg's son charged with drug possession". Brisbane Times. 9 January 2018. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  13. ^ "Australian Border Force boss Roman Quaedvlieg on leave amid 'investigation'". The Sydney Morning Herald. 3 July 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  14. ^ "Border Force chief Roman Quaedvlieg awaits ruling". The Australian. 10 October 2017. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  15. ^ Karp, Paul (15 March 2018). "Roman Quaedvlieg sacked as head of Border Force". the Guardian. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  16. ^ Grattan, Michelle. "Border Force Commissioner Roman Quaedvlieg sacked for helping partner". The Conversation. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  17. ^ a b Wroe, David (27 February 2018). "'Two or more versions of events': Roman Quaedvlieg protests innocence over abuse of power allegations". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  18. ^ Koziol, Michael (27 December 2017). "Border Force boss Roman Quaedvlieg clocks up seven months' paid leave while under investigation". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
  19. ^ "Australian Border Force boss Roman Quaedvlieg sacked following conduct review". SBS News. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  20. ^ Grattan, Michelle (15 March 2018). "Border Force Commissioner Roman Quaedvlieg sacked for helping partner". The Conversation. Australia. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  21. ^ Greene, Andrew; Jennett, Greg (15 March 2018). "Roman Quaedvlieg: Who is the ousted Australian Border Force boss and how did he lose his job?". ABC News. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  22. ^ "Search Australian Honours: QUAEDVLIEG, Roman Alexander: Australian Police Medal". It's an Honour. Commonwealth of Australia. 26 January 2011.

Attribution

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  Content in this Wikipedia article was based on the Roman Quaedvlieg APM, listed on the "Department of Immigration and Border Protection", published by the Commonwealth of Australia under CC-BY 3.0 licence (accessed on 30 November 2016). Archived March 2018.

Police appointments
Preceded by Chief Police Officer of ACT Policing
2010–2013
Succeeded by
Rudi Lammers
Civic offices
Preceded by Comptroller-General of Customs
2014–2018
Succeeded byas Acting Comptroller-General of Customs
CEO of Australian Customs and Border Protection Service
2014–2015
Succeeded by
Self
as Commissioner of the Australian Border Force created
Police appointments
Preceded by
Self
as CEO of Australian Customs and Border Protection Service
Commissioner of the Australian Border Force
2015–2018
Succeeded byas Acting Commissioner of the Australian Border Force