Stephen Dametto
Assistant Commissioner, Eastern CommandAustralian Federal Police
Stephen Dametto is the Assistant Commissioner of Eastern Command for the Australian Federal Police (AFP). In this role, Stephen is responsible for the strategic direction and operational effect of the AFP in New South Wales which includes criminal investigations, Aviation members at Sydney Airport (and soon to be the new Western Sydney International Airport), and Protection responsibilities of Commonwealth establishments and high office holders in NSW. He brings over 25 years of operational policing experience across a range of crime types including counter terrorism, organised crime, money laundering, human trafficking and child protection operations.
He has significant experience in criminal investigations and has deployed internationally on a number of occasions, including as part of a secondment to the UK’s Metropolitan Police (the Met) in their Counter Terrorism Command (SO15), as a member of their Senior Management Team, and in the UK’s National Crime Squad’s Money Laundering Investigations Team. Stephen was the Senior Investigating Officer in the Malaysia Airlines (MH17) disaster in Ukraine.
Stephen in his role as Commander Counter Terrorism Investigations East, which was responsible for oversight of counter terrorism investigations for the AFP in NSW, Queensland, the ACT and Victoria, created the AFP’s National Specialist Services, which included the Online Threat and Analysis Centre (OTAC), Joint Threat Financing Group (JTFG), Community Liaison Teams and the Behavioural Science Team, among others.
In 2018, Stephen took leave from his role in the AFP to practise law as a barrister in New South Wales. Stephen is also a chartered accountant with management training, including a Master of Studies (MSt) in Applied Criminology and Police Management from the University of Cambridge (UK).
Stephen is the Executive sponsor of the Eastern Command Inclusion and Diversity Committee; he is a member of the AFP’s Research and Innovation Committee and is a leading participant in the AFP’s community engagement efforts.