The Police Regulation Act 1898 established the first centralised police force since the assignment period of the convict era. By the 1980s its functions had been expanded to include:-protect life and property, prevent and detect crime, preserve civil order, control the movement of people and vehicles, - provide effective inland and offshore search and rescue services, - maintain an effective fisheries inspection and patrol service. On 17 July 1989 the name of the Department was changed to reflect the increasing importance of the State Emergency Service operating under its auspices.;;Each individual police station (or grouping of stations) in a geographical area has been given a separate agency registration outside this central police agency registration which has been used for central administrative records, including those of the districts and branches.