RESEARCH PAPER SERIES, 2018–19              Updated 12 September 2018

Crime and law enforcement: a quick guide to key internet links

Cat Barker

Foreign Affairs, Defence and Security

This Quick Guide provides key internet links to websites with information on crime and law enforcement arrangements and issues.

Australian Government

•        Department of Home Affairs (DoHA)—the lead department for law enforcement and crime prevention. Key pages include:

–      crime—overview and links to more specific information including policy on organised crime, money laundering, cybercrime, human trafficking, people smuggling and illicit drugs and

–      crime prevention—information on the government’s crime prevention initiatives, including grants programs.

•        Attorney-General’s Department—the lead department for fraud and anti-corruption policy and the administration of criminal justice. Key pages include:

–      crime and corruption—overview and links to more specific information including policy on anti-corruption, foreign bribery and fraud control

–      federal offenders—information on the management of persons convicted of Commonwealth offences while they are imprisoned or on parole and

–      international relations—overview and links to more specific information on international crime cooperation including extradition, mutual assistance and international transfer of prisoners processes, and the Pacific law and justice program.

•        Australian Federal Police (AFP)—responsible for preventing, disrupting and investigating Commonwealth offences and state offences that have a federal aspect, contributing to combating organised crime and safeguarding Australia’s interests from criminal activity in Australia and overseas.

•        Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC; comprising the former Australian Crime Commission and CrimTrac)—Australia’s national criminal intelligence agency. ACIC gathers and shares criminal intelligence and leads or participates in joint investigations and intelligence operations, with a focus on serious and organised crime of national significance. It also provides national information systems and services to police and law enforcement agencies. While some of ACIC’s intelligence products are classified, it also produces a range of publicly available material, including the annual Illicit Drugs Data Report, the biennial Organised Crime in Australia Report and the Crime type fact sheets.

•        Australian Border Force (ABF)—responsible for managing the security and integrity of Australia’s borders, including law enforcement functions relating to prohibited imports such as illicit drugs and firearms. The ABF is part of DoHA, but is led by a Commissioner who reports directly to the Minister for Home Affairs. The ABF is part of the multi-agency taskforce Maritime Border Command and leads two of the three Task Groups established to support Operation Sovereign Borders.

•        Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC)—Australia’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regulator and specialist financial intelligence unit. Key publications include the AUSTRAC Compliance Guide and its money laundering and terrorism financing risk assessments and strategic analysis briefs.

•        Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity (ACLEI)—an independent agency responsible for preventing, detecting, investigating and reporting on corrupt conduct and systemic corruption in Commonwealth law enforcement agencies. As at September 2018, the AFP, ACIC, DoHA, AUSTRAC, and certain officers in the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources were under ACLEI’s jurisdiction. ACLEI publishes investigation and other reports on its website.

•        Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions—an independent service established to prosecute Commonwealth criminal offences. The Prosecution Policy of the Commonwealth is available on the website, as are case reports, prosecution statistics and information for victims and witnesses.

•        Australian Institute of Criminology—undertakes and disseminates crime and criminal justice research through publications, events such as seminars and workshops, and information services such as research alerts and its library. It also administers the Criminology Research Grants program.

Federal parliamentary and other oversight bodies

•        Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement—monitors, reviews and reports on the performance of the AFP and ACIC, matters relevant to the functions of those agencies and trends and changes in criminal activities, practices and methods; oversees the operation of the unexplained wealth provisions of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

•        Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity—monitors, reviews and reports on the performance of ACLEI, matters relevant to the functions of the agency and corruption and integrity trends and changes relevant to Commonwealth law enforcement agencies.

•        Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs—oversees the Home Affairs and Attorney-General’s portfolios, including through Senate Estimates and inquiries into Bills and matters relevant to those portfolios.

•        Commonwealth Ombudsman—has statutory responsibility for inspecting and reporting on law enforcement agencies’ records relating to the exercise of powers under the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979, Crimes Act 1914 and Surveillance Devices Act 2004 and, under the Australian Federal Police Act 1979, AFP records relating to conduct and practice issues. Most of these reports are published on the website.

State and territory police services

•        ACT Policing

•        New South Wales Police Force

•        Northern Territory Police

•        Queensland Police

•        South Australia Police

•        Tasmania Police

•        Victoria Police

•        Western Australia Police Force

State and territory justice departments

•        Australian Capital Territory Justice and Community Safety Directorate

•        New South Wales Department of Justice

•        Northern Territory Department of the Attorney-General and Justice

•        Queensland Department of Justice and Attorney-General

•        South Australia Attorney-General’s Department

•        Tasmania Department of Justice

•        Victoria Department of Justice and Regulation

•        Western Australia Department of Justice

Statistics

•        Australian Institute of Criminology—publishes the annual Australian crime: facts and figures series and provides the interactive Facts and Figures online data tool and a range of crimes and criminal justice data in its Statistical Bulletins and Statistical Reports.

•        Crime and Justice page of the Australian Bureau of Statistics website—includes statistics relating to victims, offenders, courts and corrections.

•        NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research—publishes crime statistics, criminal court statistics and criminal custody statistics for New South Wales, and provides an interactive Crime Mapping Tool.

•        Crime Statistics Agency Victoria—publishes crime statistics for Victoria and provides an interactive tool to examine crime by location (Local Government Area and postcode or suburb).

•        Crime statistics for other states and territories are available on the Western Australia Police Force, Queensland Police, Data SA, Tasmania Police, ACT Policing and Northern Territory Police websites.

Select operational and research organisations

Australia

•        Australia and New Zealand Policing Advisory Agency (ANZPAA)—established to provide strategic policy advice to the Commonwealth, state, territory and New Zealand governments on cross-jurisdictional policing initiatives to improve community safety.

•        National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre—a multi-disciplinary centre based at the University of New South Wales which undertakes projects (including the Illicit Drug Reporting System and the Ecstasy and Related Drugs Reporting System) and produces a range of publications (including the Australian (illicit) Drug Policy Timeline 1985–2016) with the aim of increasing the effectiveness of responses to drug and alcohol harms.

•        Sydney Institute of Criminology—a research centre based in the Law School at the University of Sydney which specialises in criminology, criminal justice and criminal law and produces the journal Current Issues in Criminal Justice.

•        National Drug Law Enforcement Research Fund—funded by the Australian Government under the National Drug Strategy to commission research to inform effective law enforcement responses to licit and illicit drugs.

•        Crime Stoppers Australia—a not-for-profit organisation that facilitates anonymous community reporting of information that may help to prevent or solve crime.

International

•        United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)—the United Nations agency mandated to help member states to respond to illicit drugs, transnational crime and terrorism through research and analytical work and technical and capacity-building assistance. The UNODC is responsible for several treaties, produces a range of publications examining issues at the country, regional and international levels and provides a range of other publicly accessible resources. The Commission on Narcotic Drugs and the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice are governing bodies of the UNODC.

•        The Campbell Collaboration—publishes systematic reviews, plain language summaries and policy briefs, including in the fields of crime and justice, to inform evidence-based policy.

•        What Works Centre for Crime Reduction at the College of Policing in the United Kingdom (UK)—reviews research on practices and interventions to reduce crime, to inform Police and Crime Commissioners and other stakeholders and help them target resources more effectively. Its publications include systematic reviews and What Works Briefings.

•        Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy at George Mason University in the United States (US)—aims to ‘make scientific research a key component in decisions about crime and justice policies’. Its research projects include evidence-based policing, crime and place, systematic reviews (working with the Campbell Collaboration) and criminal justice policy. The Center maintains the Evidence-Based Policing Matrix, a database of research studies that were based on randomised control experiments or quasi-experiments, focused on interventions primarily involving police and included crime or disorder as a measured outcome.

•        Interpol—an international policing organisation that aims to foster better international cooperation on transnational crime by providing technical and operational support and training. It produces a range of publications and information on crime types.

•        National Criminal Justice Reference Service—a US-based resource funded by the federal government to provide crime, justice and drug-related information to support research, policy and program development. The site includes publications from the Office of Justice Programs and the Virtual Library and Abstracts Database, as well as information by topic.

•        Europol—the European Union’s law enforcement agency assists law enforcement agencies in member states by providing intelligence, analysis and operational support. It also has several operational and strategic agreements with non-EU countries (including Australia). Publications include EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Reports, Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessments and Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessments.

•        European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA)—established to provide the European Union and member states with data and evidence to inform law and strategy on drugs, drug addiction and their consequences. Publications can be viewed by date, type or topic, and the website also includes statistics and country information.

•        Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project—an investigative reporting platform formed by non-profit investigative centres, journalists and regional news organisations across Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America.

•        Police Foundation—a UK-based think tank focused on policing and crime reduction which produces a range of publications.

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