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

Chief Commissioner A chief commissioner is a commissioner of a 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 be ...

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''. , Victo ...

from 2015 to 2020. He also served in the

Australian Federal Police The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the national and principal federal law enforcement agency of the Australian Government with the unique role of investigating crime and protecting the national security of the Commonwealth of Australia. Th ...

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. Haw ...

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

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

suburb of

Dernancourt Dernancourt (; pcd, Dèrnincourt) 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 con ...

. 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 occurred on 12 October 2002 in the tourist district of Kuta on the Indonesian island of Bali. The attack killed 202 people (including 88 Australians, 38 Indonesians, 23 Britons, and people of more than 20 other nationalit ...

. 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 Queen's Police Medal for Gallantry and Queen's Police Medal for Distinguis ...

and was made a Member of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

(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 independent police oversight and anti-corruption agency established by the Victorian Government in November 2004. OPI ceased operation on 9 February 2013 and was replaced b ...

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 who was the founder, chief executive officer and chairman of Enron. He was heavily involved in the eponymous accounting scandal that unraveled in 2001 into the large ...

who had retired. After the

AB v CD ''AB v CD; EF v CD'' is a decision of the High Court of Australia. The decision is notable for revealing the Nicola Gobbo#Lawyer X scandal, 'Lawyer X' scandal to the Australian public. At issue was the use of the criminal barrister Nicola Gobbo ...

decision in the

High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is Australia's apex court. It exercises Original jurisdiction, original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified within Constitution of Australia, Australia's Constitution. The High Court was established fol ...

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 On 20 January 2017, around 1:30 pm AEDT on a busy Friday, a car was deliberately driven into pedestrians along Bourke Street in the Melbourne central business district, Victoria, Australia. Six people were killed and twenty seven were se ...

December 2017 Melbourne car attack On 21 December 2017, at 4:41 pm AEDT, a driver rammed pedestrians with his car at the corner of Flinders Street and Elizabeth Street in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, killing one person and injuring seventeen others, including himself. ...

whilst

Shane Patton Shane Andrew Patton is an Australian police officer and , the Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police. Patton grew up in regional Victoria and joined Victoria Police in 1978. Part of his early career was spent at St Kilda, Victoria, St Kilda Cri ...

was acting Chief Commissioner * Investigation of George Pell *The

Royal Commission into Family Violence Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ci ...

*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 by ...

and the associated Royal Commission *The

COVID-19 pandemic in Victoria The COVID-19 pandemic in Victoria is part of the ongoing 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 ...

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 Victoria Police Members of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Australian Police Medal People from Adelaide