The Australian Federal Police (AFP) led Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation or, the ACCCE (pronounced ACE), was announced by the Prime Minister on 25 March 2018, as a measure of the 2018-19 Commonwealth Budget.
The ACCCE brings together a world-leading approach, incorporating key stakeholders and partners, and driving a collective effort to counter the epidemic of child exploitation.
It provides an integrated and collaborative capability to ensure cohesion by using the expertise of federal, state and territory, non-government agencies and private industry, and by allowing a cross-pollination of resources, knowledge and skillsets between stakeholders.
Read the ACCCE Overview
On this page:
The ACCCE Strategic Plan 2022-26 outlines the role and operation of the ACCCE, developed through a series of stakeholder workshops and collaborative efforts and partnerships with our key stakeholders, including non-government organisations, Australian government agencies and state and territory law enforcement.
Our vision: Children free from exploitation
Our mission: To be coordinated and connected with our partners to counter online child sexual exploitation.
Our activities: In partnership, the ACCCE will work to free children from exploitation through its five pillars;
- prepare future capabilities and technologies to counter online child exploitation
- prevent the online exploitation of children, and intervene earlier in the abuse of victims
- protect victims from further victimisation, and protect the wellbeing of staff
- support authorities to pursue, disrupt and prosecute online child sex offenders, and remove victims from harm; and
- promote the ACCCE, its successes and the work of its partners in achieving collective objectives.
Underpinning the five strategic pillars, we recognise the principle of Partnership as a key enabler of the ACCCE mission - noting Australia's efforts to free children from exploitation cannot be contained to any one organisation, jurisdiction or country.
The strategic plan complements the ACCCE Blueprint, the culmination of substantial design work undertaken by the AFP with partner agencies in the first year of its operation.
Functions of the ACCCE
- Triage of reports of child exploitation (the Child Protection Triage Unit).
- Intelligence inputs (the Intelligence Fusion Cell).
- Specialist capabilities (Covert Online Engagement Unit and Victim Identification Unit).
- Prevention and online safety (the Online Child Safety Team).
The ACCCE Blueprint
The ACCCE Blueprint 2019-2021 is the culmination of substantial design work undertaken by the AFP with partner agencies in the first year of its operation. It sets out the role of the ACCCE and how it will operate.
Key achievements
In September 2018, the ACCCE set out on a journey to free children from online child sexual exploitation. Here is what we’ve achieved both in our fourth year and since we began in 2018:
ACCCE Marks 5-year anniversary