Retired officers from the Retired Police Association Riverina Branch Kevin Barber and Fred Loneragan said the certificate recognises Inspector Malligan's work throughout his decade in Wagga.

Inspector Malligan was a Detective Sergeant attached to the Riverina Police District (RIVPD) from 2011 until 2021 before he was promoted last year to the position of District Inspector at Moree within the New England Police District.

Whilst in Wagga, Inspector Malligan was also the Protocol Officer for the RIVPD where he coordinated Police Medals and Awards Ceremonies, Retired Police Day and the National Police Remembrance Day Services.

Inspector Malligan was also closely engaged with the Riverina Branch of the Retired Police Association, where he regularly met with members and assisted those retired officers in obtaining their Police Service Awards.

He was also actively involved with assisting the families of those retired officers who had passed away, with their eulogies, their Police Service histories and attending the funeral services of former officers.

Mr Loneragan said Inspector Malligan's work in Wagga was "well above what is expected".

"He spent countless hours with families of police officers who needed assistance- particularly at the hardest times of their lives when they were burying loved ones," Mr Lonergan said.

Mr Lonergan said this award is "very selectively issued", which goes to show how big of an impact Inspector Malligan had on the association.

Mr Barber prides Inspector Malligan on his ability to organise services and events.

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"Phil's greatest asset was arranging things," Mr Barber said.

"When you get a call from a former police officer from Darwin to tell you that his father, who was a superintendent at Wagga, had passed away and his request was to be buried in his uniform, I'd advised him I couldn't see why his request wouldn't be carried out.

"I hand-balled it to Phil and Phil along with Father Ryan not only arranged a funeral, but Phil arranged the uniform that the former member was buried in."

Inspector Malligan was closely associated with the police chaplains that regularly assisted the police when dealing with matters of trauma.

These chaplains included Father Gerard Ryan, who was a police chaplain for 14 years and was the last recipient of the award before Inspector Malligan, as well as Reverend Grant Bell who was also a former police officer.

Inspector Malligan hopes to return to the Riverina once he has completed his tenure with the New England Police District.

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