Jon Rouse served for 39 years with the Queensland Police Service in Australia. In 1996 he commenced investigating crimes against children at State Crime Command’s Child Abuse and Sexual Crime Group and in 2001 he began working at Task Force Argos where he implemented Australia’s first operation to proactively target internet child sex offenders.
During his career Jon instigated multiple national and international operations targeting child exploitation criminal networks and he has delivered training to law enforcement officers in Australia and across the world, including representing Australia at United Nations summits in Vienna and Kenya.
In July 2019 Jon was seconded to the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) to set up and lead the Covert Online operations team, Victim Identification Unit and Training team.
He is the recipient of six Commissioners Certificates (QPS and AFP) for his operational leadership, two AFP Commissioner Citations and two Queensland Police Excellence awards for Child Protection Prevention and was the Chair of the Covert Internet Investigations Group for the INTERPOL Specialists on Crimes against Children until March 2023.
In May 2018, Jon accepted the ‘Champion for Children Award’ in New York from the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children in recognition of his dedication to fighting and investigating crimes against children.
Jon was awarded the Queensland Australian of the Year for 2019 and he is the recipient of the Queensland Police Medal, the National Service Medal, the Exemplary Conduct medal, the Queensland Police Meritorious Service Medal, the National Police Medal and the Australian Police Medal.
In January 2023 he was appointed as a Professor at the AiLECS Lab Monash University (artificial Intelligence for Law Enforcement and Community Safety)
In October 2024 he was appointed as a Professor at the University of New South Wales Childlight Hub.
Jon is an appointed Ambassador for the following Australian Child Protection organisations;
· Act for Kids
· Bravehearts
· The Carly Ryan Foundation
· Daniel Morecombe Foundation
and is a Director with The Society for the Policing of Cyberspace (POLCYB) the Daniel Morecombe Foundation and is Chairman of the Board of Directors at the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children Australia.
