judging panel:
Jason Regan

Jason Regan commenced in the role of Commander Australian Border Force (ABF) College in February 2022, overseeing the delivery of ABF vocational training and tradecraft specific operational learning.

Commander Regan leads the delivery of both general duties and advanced capability vocational training across the ABF functional remit (including border control, maritime operations, revenue collection, investigations, and regulatory compliance), including the delivery of foundational and maritime tactical officer recruit training. Commander Regan supports ABF workforce organisational and operational priorities, and is accountable for the management and coordination of the ABF learning and development framework to support the dynamic requirement of ABF capability.

Commander Regan is a proud Ngunawal man and as the ABF’s First Nations (Indigenous) Champion prioritises First Nations capability, advocating for reconciliation through improved engagement across the Australian Public Service (APS). Commander Regan is proactively driving the integration of traditional First Nations ‘ways of knowing, being and doing’ into the Department of Home Affairs and the broader APS policies, practices and initiatives, ensuring improved experiences and outcomes of First Nations people throughout Australia.

Often performing higher duties roles across the Department of Home Affairs, Commander Regan is a people centred leader with an ability to harness opportunities for strategic transformation within large, operationally complex environments, motivating high performing teams to innovate enterprise-wide policy, legislative, and operational solutions.

Prior to his appointment as the Commander ABF College, Commander Regan led a number of joint interagency operations resulting in favourable enforcement outcomes for the Commonwealth of Australia. Between 2016 and 2018 Commander Regan provided Command oversight for a number of focused maritime enforcement activities, resulting in significant amounts of narcotics being seized by Australian law enforcement agencies. In 2017, as National Operations Commander, Commander Regan received multiple citations and commendations for an innovative approach to a number of international operations on behalf of the ABF. These operations led to significant seizures of contraband and the retention and destruction of a number of maritime vessels used to facilitate illicit activity.

Qualifying as a Commercial Pilot in 2004, Commander Regan has led two concurrent executive-level careers across public and private sectors spanning over 20 years and has dedicated both careers to building sustainable operational capability through empowering workforce development. Commander Regan’s aviation career is comparable to his role in the ABF, centred on the provision of specialist training in aerial firefighting and law enforcement operations.