Assistant Commissioner Janelle Tonkin began her policing career in 2001 with the South Australian Police Force where she pursued a career in investigations and completed a Bachelor Degree in Social Science (Justice Administration) through the University of South Australia. Whilst a member of the South Australian Police Force, Janelle worked in a number of areas including general duties, armed robbery squad and criminal investigations.
In January 2008, Janelle transferred to the Northern Territory Police Force where she was promoted to the rank of Detective Sergeant and spent several years working in Alice Springs specialising in the areas of domestic, family & sexual violence, homicide and child abuse. She was instrumental in the development of the Family Safety Framework, a whole of Government initiative, led by the Northern Territory Police as a response to domestic, family and sexual violence.
In 2013, Janelle was promoted to Senior Sergeant where she led the Sex Crime Investigation Unit and later the Territory Major Crash Investigation Unit and Traffic and Road Policing Division.
Following promotion to the rank of Superintendent in 2017, she took on the role of Internal Investigations within the Professional Standards Command. In March 2020, Janelle was promoted to the rank of Commander and moved to the regional town of Katherine where she undertook the role of District Commander for the Northern Region overseeing policing operations across 32 police stations.
In June 2022, Janelle took up the position of Commander Professional Standards Command and in June 2023, commenced in the new role of Assistant Commissioner Territory Community Safety Coordination, a role she has now been promoted into and continues to lead coordinated efforts to address community safety through strong leadership, policy development and a partnership approach to engagement and government operational coordination.
In 2014, Janelle was awarded the Excellence in Policing for Women’s Initiatives at the Australasian Excellence in Policing Awards. She has attended the Australian Institute of Police Management as a participant and Visiting Fellow. In 2020 she completed the International Executive Development in Policing Program, where she was awarded an overall Executive Leadership Award. She is the holder of a Master’s Degree in International Executive Police Leadership, is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and recently completed the ANZCTC Police Commanders course.
Janelle also devotes her time to mentoring up and coming female leaders across government and is a mother of two young boys.
