The AFP is celebrating all father’s and caregivers this Father’s Day and recognising the important work they do to keep Australians safe, while maintaining a strong family unit.
Detective Inspector Callum Hughes is reflecting on his late father Assistant Commissioner Andrew Hughes’ remarkable career in the AFP, while looking back at his own path into policing this Father’s Day.
Assistant Commissioner Hughes’ AFP career spanned 35 years and took him to places including Fiji and New York. He held a range of senior operational positions, including as the Commissioner of Police for the republic of the Fiji Islands, Chief Police Officer of ACT Policing and the head of UN Police Peacekeeping globally.
Assistant Commissioner Hughes suffered a long 10-year battle with bowel cancer which he ultimately succumbed to in 2018.
Det-Insp Callum Hughes was almost destined to become a police officer, and has fond memories of his father’s policing stories over the years.
“As a kid, I used to sit next to dad in police cars he would bring home from work and try to turn on the lights and siren,” Det-Insp Hughes said.
“I would often listen to him regale stories of incidents he had been involved in over the years and while some of his stories were tragic tales of the worst humanity, many of them were about working together with mates who were like-minded people that wanted to make a difference to their community.”
Det-Insp Hughes joined the AFP in 2010 and has since worked in ACT Policing roles on the frontline and in investigative roles. He is now the Detective Inspector responsible for sexual offences and child abuse investigations in the ACT.
“Even though my dad passed away four years ago, I regularly find myself thinking what my dad would do when I am presented with a problem,” Det-Insp Hughes said.
While the father and son never got to work together directly, Assistant Commissioner Hughes was always ready to provide his son with advice.
“When I was performing general duties, my dad would ask me about all the jobs I had been to over a block of shifts and would quiz me on the police powers I had applied to make sure I knew what I was doing,” he said.
“Dad’s advice was simple; if you say you’re going to do something, do it. Treat your people the way you would want to be treated.
“Everyone that has ever spoken to me in the AFP about him tells me the same thing consistently; he practiced what he preached and applied that from the point he was a Constable in the ACT to when he was the Commissioner of Police in Fiji.”
Det-Insp Hughes is now a father himself, and is focused on adjusting to parenthood and be like the father his dad was to him.
“My dad left an unforgettable mark on the AFP and he did so without taking himself too seriously and prioritised his family,” Det-Insp Hughes said.
“The legacy may also continue, my son’s favourite toy is already a wooden police car!”
