Graham Leonard Ashton (born 1962) is an Australian police officer who was the

Chief Commissioner A chief commissioner is a commissioner of high rank, usually in chief of several commissioners or similarly styled officers. Colonial In British India the gubernatorial style was chief commissioner in various (not all) provinces (often after bein ...

Victoria Police Victoria Police is the primary law enforcement agency of the Australian States and territories of Australia, state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. It was formed in 1853 and currently operates under the ''Victoria Police Act 2013''. , Victor ...

from 2015 to 2020. He also served in the

Australian Federal Police The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the principal Federal police, federal law enforcement agency of the Australian Government responsible for investigating Crime in Australia, crime and protecting the national security of the Commonwealth ...

for a long period. Ashton was born in

Aldgate, South Australia Aldgate is a South Australian village and a suburb of Adelaide, located south-east of the Adelaide city centre, in the Adelaide Hills. History An inn called the Aldgate Pump was opened by Richard D. Hawkins, a well-known publican, in 1864. Hawk ...

and lived there for a short time until his family moved to the

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

suburb of

Dernancourt Dernancourt (; ) is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography Dernancourt is situated on the D52 road, some northeast of Amiens. Population Places and monuments The commune was considerably affecte ...

. When he turned 18, he left Adelaide and moved to Canberra to join the

(AFP), and was later posted to the AFP's Melbourne and Brisbane offices. From 1995 to 1997, he served as the law enforcement liaison officer in Indonesia at the Australian embassy in Jakarta. In 2002, he returned to Indonesia as operational commander of the Australian police component of Operation Alliance, the joint investigation and victim identification process following the

2002 Bali bombings The 2002 Bali bombings were a series of terrorist attacks on 12 October 2002 in the tourist district of Kuta on the Indonesian island of Bali. The attacks killed 202 people (including 88 Australians, 38 Indonesians, 23 Britons, and people ...

. In 2003, whilst serving as national manager of counter-terrorism, he was awarded the

Australian Police Medal The Australian Police Medal (APM) is awarded for distinguished service by a member of an Australian police force. The APM was introduced in 1986, and replaced the Imperial King’s Police Medal for Gallantry and King’s Police Medal, King’s Po ...

and was made a Member of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

(AM) for his work on Alliance. In 2004, Ashton left the AFP after 24 years of service and accepted a position at the newly formed

Office of Police Integrity The Office of Police Integrity (OPI) was the Australian state of Victoria's independent police oversight and anti-corruption agency established by the Victorian Government in November 2004. OPI ceased operation on 9 February 2013 and was replace ...

in Victoria. In 2009, he was made director of forensic services for Victoria Police, thereafter as Assistant Commissioner (Crime) and in 2012, Deputy Commissioner of Specialist Operations. In January 2015, he returned to the AFP as a deputy commissioner, but several months later was appointed as the chief commissioner of Victoria Police, replacing

Ken Lay Kenneth Lee Lay (April 15, 1942 – July 5, 2006) was an American businessman and political donor who was the founder, chief executive officer and chairman of Enron. He was heavily involved in Enron's accounting scandal that unraveled in 2001 ...

who had retired. After the AB v CD decision in the

High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is the apex court of the Australian legal system. It exercises original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified in the Constitution of Australia and supplementary legislation. The High Court was establi ...

case Ashton said that "Ethics is a murky, murky thing". During his time as Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police, Ashton had to deal with the following issues: * January 2017 Melbourne car attack * December 2017 Melbourne car attack whilst Shane Patton was acting Chief Commissioner * Investigation of George Pell *The Royal Commission into Family Violence *The revelations about

Nicola Gobbo Nicola Maree Gobbo, sometimes known as Nikki Gobbo, (born 16 November 1972) is an Australian former criminal defence barrister and police informant. Drug charge at law school In 1993, while she was a law student, police raided a house owned b ...

and the associated Royal Commission *The

COVID-19 pandemic in Victoria The COVID-19 pandemic in Victoria was part of the worldwide pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The first confirmed case in the state of Victoria, also the first in Austra ...

In May 2020, Victoria Police confirmed that Ashton would retire at the conclusion of his five-year term at the end of June 2020, in keeping with his stated plans when he was appointed to the role. It was announced that his replacement would be appointed from within the force's senior command with Shane Patton taking over the role when Ashton left.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashton, Graham 1962 births Living people Chief commissioners of the Victoria Police Members of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Australian Police Medal People from Adelaide