ORGANISED CRIME STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK
Joint Media Release
Attorney-General
Hon Robert McClelland MP
Minister for Home Affairs
Hon Brendan O’Connor MP
25 November 2009
Attorney-General Robert McClelland and Minister for Home Affairs Brendan O’Connor have today launched a comprehensive framework for a more integrated and collaborative Commonwealth response to combat organised crime.
The Commonwealth Organised Crime Strategic Framework will ensure Commonwealth intelligence, policy, regulatory and law enforcement agencies are working together to prevent, disrupt, investigate and prosecute organised crime.
A biennial Organised Crime Threat Assessment conducted by the Australian Crime Commission will identify the key organised crime threats to allow Commonwealth agencies to combine their resources and undertake multi-agency operations to respond to these threats.
An Organised Crime Response Plan will align the resources of Commonwealth law enforcement agencies according to the priority assigned by the Organised Crime Threat Assessment. Multi-agency operations such as taskforces will also focus on the assessment priorities.
To support this coordinated response to organised crime, the Commonwealth has committed to:
- improving intelligence, information sharing and interoperability among agencies to best identify and combat organised crime networks and their activities;
- targeting the criminal economy to remove the profitability of criminal activity;
- enhancing investigation, prosecution and offender management processes to meet the challenges posed by flexible, innovative and resilient criminal networks;
- establishing stronger preventative partnerships with industry and the community, by alerting the community to key threats and engaging the business sector in preventive responses; and
- enhancing our international, domestic and Commonwealth partnerships, acknowledging that organised crime does not recognise borders.
“The Government is committed to protecting Australia from the social and economic impacts of organised crime, estimated to cost the community more than $15 billion a year,” Mr McClelland said.
Minister for Home Affairs Brendan O’Connor said that increasing information and intelligence sharing would create a better picture of organised crime in Australia.
“It is important we ensure that agencies’ efforts and resources are targeted at the most significant threats,” Mr O’Connor said.
The development of the Framework follows the Prime Minister’s first National Security Statement, which identified organised crime as a significant national security threat, and as a growing and continuing national challenge.
The Standing Committee of Attorneys-General agreed to measures supporting a comprehensive national response to organised crime at its meeting in April.
To implement these measures, the Attorney-General introduced packages of legislative reforms in June and September to improve our ability to prevent, investigate, and prosecute organised crime.
Earlier this month the Attorney-General obtained the agreement of the Attorneys-General of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand to develop a multi-lateral framework for organised crime which will build on Australia’s strategic framework.
The Commonwealth Organised Crime Strategic Framework can be found at www.ag.gov.au/organisedcrime
Media Contact:
Daniel Gleeson (McClelland) 0409 562 425
Brian Humphries (O’Connor) 0438 595 567
