CHAPTER ONE

Introduction

The Committee’s Duty

1.1 Subsection 55(1) of the National Crime Authority Act 1984 (the Act) sets out
the duties of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the National Crime Authority.
These duties are:

a) to monitor and to review the performance by the Authority of its
functions;
b) to report to both Houses of the Parliament, with such comments as it
thinks fit, upon any matter appertaining to the Authority or connected
with the performance of its functions to which, in the opinion of the
Committee, the attention of the Parliament should be directed;
c) to examine each annual report of the authority and report to the
Parliament on any matter appearing in, or arising out of, any such
annual report;
d) to examine trends and changes in criminal activities, practices and
methods and report to both Houses of the Parliament any change
which the Committee thinks desirable to the functions, structure,
powers and procedures of the authority; and
e) to inquire into any question in connection with its duties which is
referred to it by either House of the Parliament, and to report to that
House upon that question.

1.2 The Annual Report of the Authority is prepared pursuant to subsection 61(1)
of the Act. The Authority is required to furnish it to the Inter-governmental
Committee for transmission to the Commonwealth Minister and to the Minister in
each participating State or Territory. The relevant Minister is required to have the
report tabled within 15 sitting- days of receipt.

1.3 The Authority’s Annual Report has been tabled in accordance with section
61(5) of the Act.

1.4 Pursuant to s 55 (1) of the Act, this report examines the National Crime
Authority’s Annual Report 2000-2001. This is the first Report of the Joint
Parliamentary Committee on the National Crime Authority in the 40th Parliament.

Public Hearings

1.5 The Committee considered it desirable to hold public hearings prior to the
preparation of this examination of the Authority’s Annual Report. A public hearing
where evidence was heard from the Authority was held on 24 June 2002.
Committee Report

1.6 The Committee adopted this report at a private meeting held on 5 December
2002.

Functions of the Authority

1.7 The National Crime Authority is a statutory body established under Part II of
the Act.

1.8 The Authority’s functions are set out in Division 1 of Part II. Those functions
include:

• the collection, analysis and dissemination of criminal intelligence and
information to government and approved bodies;
• the investigation of matters concerning criminal activities;
• the arrangement and co-ordination of task forces involving Commonwealth and
State Police; and
• the investigation of matters specifically referred to it by the Minister.

Reporting Requirements

Statutory Requirements

1.9 Subsection 61 (2) requires an annual report by the Authority to include:

a) a description of the matters that were referred during that year to the
Authority for investigation;
b) a description, which may include statistics, of any patterns or trends,
and the nature and scope, of any criminal activity that have come to
the attention of the Authority during that year in the course of its
investigations;
c) any recommendations for changes in the laws of the Commonwealth,
of a participating State or of a Territory, or for administrative action,
that, as a result of the performance of its functions, the Authority
considers should be made;
d) the general nature and the extent of any information furnished by the
Chair during that year to a law enforcement agency;
e) the extent to which its investigations have resulted in the prosecution
in that year of persons for offences;
f) particulars of matters in respect of which the Authority has, during
that year, made requests under subsection 10(1) and, subject to
subsection (5) of this section, of the outcome of such requests; and
g) particulars of the number and results of:

i) applications made to the Federal Court under sub-section 32(2) (other than as it has effect because of section 32B) for orders of review in respect of decisions of the Authority;
(NOTE: This subparagraph now repealed -Act No 135 of
2001 commenced 1 October 2001).

ii) applications made to the Federal Court or the Federal
Magistrates Court under the Administrative Decisions
(Judicial Review) Act 1977 for orders of review in respect of
matters arising under this Act; and

iii) other court proceedings involving the Authority; being
applications and proceedings that were determined, or
otherwise disposed of, during that year.

Requirements approved by the Joint Committee of Public Accounts
and Audit

1.10 These requirements were issued by the Department of Prime Minister and
Cabinet in June 2001 and include a number of performance categories; they also
include subcategories which are mandatory or suggested according to the agency
which is reporting. The principal requirements are:

• Review by Secretary
• Departmental/ Agency overview
• Report on Performance
• Management Accountability
• Corporate Governance, including

− External Scrutiny
− Management of Human Resources
− Purchasing
− Assets Management
− Consultants and competitive tendering and contracting
− Provision of access to people with disabilities

• Financial Statements

• Other Mandatory Information including:

− Occupational Health and Safety
− Freedom of information
− Advertising and market research
− Discretionary Grants
− Ecologically sustainable development and environmental performance
reporting (section 516A of Environment Protection and Biodiversity
Conservation Act 1999).

1.11 The Department or Agency is also required to provide:

• A letter of transmittal
• Table of Contents
• Index
• Glossary
• Contact officer(s)
• Internet home page and internet address for the report.

Requirements from the Portfolio Budget Statement (PBS)

Portfolio Budget Statements

1.12 In addition to its statutory accountabilities, and the annual reports
requirements, the budgetary process provides in the Portfolio Budget Statements
(PBS) a set of outcomes against which the performance of departments and agencies
is assessed. The portfolio budget statements (PBS) for 2000-2001 identify the
authority’s outcome as "An integrated and national response to organised crime". For
this outcome there are two output groups, each with two outputs:

Output Group 1: Understanding the criminal environment
Output 1: Intelligence product
Output 2: Law and administrative reform recommendations

Output Group 2: Investigating organised criminal activity
Output 1:Coordination and facilitation of integrated law enforcement agency activity
Output 2: Impact on organised criminal environment

1.13 The PBS includes a table which sets out the following measures of
effectiveness for the Authority and which are intended to demonstrate the Authority’s
overall achievement of its outcome.

• Stakeholder feedback on usefulness of intelligence product;
• Progress on uniformity of laws across Australia;
• Increase in deterrence and detectability of organised crime;
• Members (people and agencies) involved in task forces and the level of
participation in joint activities;
• Initiatives to enhance co-ordinated action;
• Significance of the networks disrupted; and
• Extent of disruption.¹

1.14 For each output, the Authority has developed several strategies. The PBS
requires the agency to include in its review the reporting of actual results against
outcomes and outputs including the specific performance set out in the PBS.

The 2000-2001 Report

1.15 The Authority’s Annual Report consists of:

• The letter of Transmission (page 1)
• Table of Contents (page 3)
• “The Chairman’s” foreword (page 4)
• Guide to this Report (page 7)
• Chapter One - Profile (page 9)
• Chapter Two - Understanding the Criminal Environment (page 21)
• Chapter Three - Investigating Organised Criminal Activity (page 37)
• Chapter Four - Corporate and Support Services (page 61)
• Seven appendices including financial statements, statistical information and details of Freedom of Information requests and complaints.

1.16 The report is completed by

• a glossary
• statements of compliance with requirements
• a list of abbreviations
• a list of figures and
• an index.

1.17 In addition, the Report indicates that its performance is aligned with:

• the Future Directions statement of May 2000;
• Authority performance in relation to the agreed outcome outputs, as described in
the Performance Management Framework and Portfolio Budget Statement; and
• the delivery strategies set out in the Corporate Plan.

1.18 The financial statements are endorsed by the former Chair in accordance with
Schedule 1 to the Financial Management and Accountability (Financial Statements
2000-2001) Orders made under section 63 of the Financial Management and
Accountability Act 1997.

 

[1] Portfolio Budget Statement for the National Crime Authority 2000-2001. Table 2.2.1 p. 284.