Launch of the Commonwealth Organised Crime Strategic Framework

Parliament House, Canberra
Committee Room C1_MG63

25 November 2009, 10am

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Acknowledgements

First, may I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land we meet on – and pay my respects to their elders, both past and present.

Other Acknowledgements

I would also like to acknowledge the heads of Commonwealth law enforcement agencies with us today.

While organised crime has been with us for a long time, the breadth and scope of its activity is not always obvious.

There have been incidents which have bought organised crime into the light, including recent events such as the public feud between motorcycle gangs at Sydney’s Kingsford Smith Airport.

There are also regular reports of drug seizures, such as the 5.7 kilograms of cocaine seized during the course of an 18 month investigation into an international drug syndicate using airport employees to smuggle drugs inside passenger aircraft.

Or the three arrests in June this year in relation to the discovery of 144 kilograms of cocaine imported from Mexico into Sydney.

Of course, organised crime is not restricted to the importation and trade of illicit substances.

There are regular reports of active disruption of networks engaged in other criminal activity, such as money laundering, people trafficking and identity fraud.

These activities capture public attention, but represent seemingly isolated and unconnected incidents.

What has been missing up until now is an understanding of the ‘big picture’ – a comprehensive overview of the threats presented by organised crime – and a coordinated plan of action to prioritise and target threats with the right combination of law enforcement capabilities.

This ‘big picture’ will be delivered by the Commonwealth Organised Crime Strategic Framework, which I am pleased to launch today.

It is important to acknowledge that traditional responses to organised crime have provided for a safe, secure and prosperous Australia.

However, in implementing the Framework, we aim to achieve the optimal response.

This will be accomplished through three key elements –

which I will now address in turn.

Organised Crime Threat Assessment

To combat organised crime effectively, we need to understand the scope of the problem.

The Australian Crime Commission conservatively measures the cost of organised crime to be in the range of $10 to $15 billion.

This is a cost borne by all.

It includes loss of revenue to Government and businesses, and the resulting damage to the health, safety and wellbeing of individuals and communities.

The Organised Crime Threat Assessment goes one step further in building our understanding of the threats, risks and harms arising from organised criminal activity.

Using intelligence gathered from a wide range of sources, the Australian Crime Commission will prepare the Threat Assessment to deliver a point-in-time assessment of crime types, and prioritise them according to the level of activity evident in Australia and the potential for harm.

The Threat Assessment will also provide the level of detail required to develop targeted responses.

To ensure it remains current, the Threat Assessment will be reviewed every two years.

Organised Crime Response Plan

We are learning more about how organised crime operates.

It is profit driven, just like a legitimate business entity.

Indeed, organised crime shares many of the same characteristics as a conventional business.

Criminal organisations and individuals monitor market trends, manage risk, and keep abreast of regulatory developments. 

They also outsource aspects of their business—like transport, sales or marketing—and may engage ‘facilitators’, like lawyers, accountants and IT specialists.

A key feature of organised crime is how quickly it can adapt to exploit new opportunities while minimising risk.

Justice Moffitt, the former President of the NSW Court of Appeal, recently stated:

“Most Australians have come to realise that, despite the many inquiries, convictions, particularly of leading criminals, are few and that organised crime and corruption still flourish. The path to conviction is slow, tortuous and expensive. … The criminal justice system is not adequate to secure the conviction of many organised crime figures. …

“They exploit every weakness and technicality of the law. When they plan their crimes they do so in a way that will prevent their guilt being proved in a court of law. They exploit the freedoms of the law, which most often are not known and availed of by poorer and less intelligent members of the community. Crimes are planned so there will be no evidence against those who plan and, if by accident there is, it is often suppressed by murder or intimidation”

We characterise organised crime as flexible, adaptable and dynamic.

Justice Moffitt’s observation illustrates the need for a response which is similarly flexible, adaptable and dynamic.

Such a response will be provided through the Organised Crime Response Plan.

Through this plan, Commonwealth law enforcement agencies will align resources according to the priority assigned by the Organised Crime Threat Assessment.

Like the Threat Assessment, it will be reviewed every two years.

It also allows us to draw upon the full range of expertise, skill sets, investigative powers and data holdings across Government

Through this systematic approach the Commonwealth will deliver a comprehensive response that actively deters, disrupts and disables criminal activity.

Multi-agency approaches

The third element of the Framework is multi‑agency approaches.

This is not new—the stories of arrests and drug seizures I noted were the result of inter-agency collaboration.

These will continue under the Framework.

Operational multi-agency approaches, such as taskforces, will focus on the priority threats identified in the Threat Assessment, employing a full range of law enforcement powers.

In addition, operational and non-operational agencies will increasingly work together to develop policy, regulatory and legislative options, which address market vulnerabilities, build preventative measures, and enhance policing powers where appropriate. 

National Security Context

I would like to conclude by drawing your attention to the Prime Minister’s National Security Statement of December 2008.

He noted that the national security environment is “increasingly fluid and characterised by a complex and dynamic mix of continuing and emerging challenges and opportunities.”

In this context, he highlighted organised crime as a growing concern.

Organised crime represents a persistent threat against institutions of state, our people, our economic assets and our technology.

To this end, a measured response is required.

In June and September this year, as part of the national response, I introduced a package of legislation that will support the Framework by providing Commonwealth agencies with an additional suite of tools to combat organised crime.

The legislation will:

strengthen our existing criminal laws, including criminal asset confiscation laws

introduce new criminal offences targeting those involved in organised crime, and

enhance police powers to infiltrate organised crime networks.

Conclusion

Ultimately, the Framework will better position the Government to respond to the evolving nature of organised crime and promote an environment that is resistant to organised criminal activity in Australia.

ENDS