APPENDIX 1: NATIONAL
CRIME AUTHORITY - CHAIRMAN'S
PROPOSALS FOR FUTURE DIRECTIONS.
A
SUBMISSION TO THE INTER-GOVERNMENTAL
COMMITTEE
OVERVIEW
Essentially, I envisage the Authority as a body which should act as a partner
to the other law enforcement agencies. It should not be - or appear to be - a
competitor. Rather, it should follow the roles of a co-ordinator and an agency
offering complementary services to the other agencies. It must not act so as to
give rise to it being perceived as a "ninth police force". It should
follow an operational mode based on the successful multi-disciplinary task
force format - teams composed of police, financial and intelligence advisers
and lawyers - and develop that so as to attain expertise in co-ordinating multi-agency
task forces. It must give high priority to collection, analysis and
dissemination of relevant criminal information and intelligence together with
recommendations for relevant law reform.
NEW REFERENCES/INQUIRIES
The Primary Selection Vehicle
I propose as the primary selection vehicle for references/inquiries a
Consultative Committee which would become an integral part of the twice yearly
Police Commissioners' Conference. This Committee would be advisory in nature
and no member of it would have the right of veto. It would be composed of the
State/Territory Commissioners of Police; the Commissioner of the Australian
Federal Police; the Chairman, National Crime Authority; the Chairman,
Australian Securities Commission or his representative and representatives of
ABCI and CTRA.
(Representatives of ATO and Customs might attend from time to time upon
invitation.) This Committee would be serviced by a Secretariat comprising a
representative* from each State and Territory Police service, the AFP, the NCA
and the CTRA.
These representatives would be assigned the task of identifying matters
which might prove suitable for references/inquiries with NCA involvement. It
would meet some six weeks to two months before the relevant Commissioners'
Conference and prepare a shortlist of proposed references/inquiries and
briefing papers for the consideration of the Consultative Committee. Criteria
for the selection of such references/inquiries would include the circumstances
that they cross jurisdictional boundaries or reflect offences of a like
character being apparently committed in several States or Territories.
In my opinion, the advantages of this vehicle are as follows:
Firstly, being a national body, its composition should help to identify
references/inquiries of a national character and thus appropriate for the
attention of the NCA. Secondly, its composition should ensure that duplication
of effort is avoided. Thirdly, its composition should assist to remove the "territorial" disputes and tensions which have occurred in the past.
References/inquiries would otherwise still come from Governments
directly.
CONDUCT OF FUTURE REFERENCES/INQUIRIES
No more "open-ended" references or inquiries will be
commenced. In future, references/inquiries will be both focussed and conducted
according to time frames. Time frames will apply to both the preliminary work
carried out in order to ascertain if the references/inquiries should be
undertaken and to the references or investigations themselves. Those
responsible for these matters
* In the Police services - at
Assistant Commissioner (Crime) level.
will understand that ordinarily failure to complete work in a time frame
will result in discontinuance of the matter and a report thereof to the
Inter-Governmental Committee. However, if those responsible can demonstrate
very exceptional circumstances (the onus being on them to do so) which
circumstances would justify a limited extension to a time frame, then such an
extension may be granted.
I referred earlier to multi-agency task forces. The NCA already has
expertise in this method of operation but it must be developed and refined. It
has recently assembled and is co-ordinating another such task force. This will
work on an inquiry time-framed for 12 months. Its objective is to investigate
whether certain licence fees have been fraudulently avoided and to assemble
admissible evidence for the relevant prosecuting authorities. This
investigation involves no fewer than four States and two Territories. The NCA
hopes to learn from this investigation much which will be of application in
others conducted in a like manner.
SPECIFIC PROPOSAL FOR A REFERENCE
I propose that the foreshadowed reference relating to an investigation
of the methods of money laundering throughout Australia be approved. This
inquiry would be time framed and would concentrate on the methods of
money laundering. If particular criminal activity was uncovered in this process
it would be handed forthwith to the relevant police service for investigation.
This reference would be conducted by all Members other than the Chairman. There
would be a need for some interstate travel for the conduct of hearings which
would involve all States and Territories. Until the new State Offices are
established in Perth (1991) and Brisbane (1992), existing State Offices would
have to assume responsibility for other States and Territories
SERIOUS WHITE COLLAR CORPORATE CRIME
It must be accepted that in the last decade there has not been a single
body which was in fact responsible for combating serious white collar corporate
crime or perceived by the public to have such a role. That must change. On the
other hand, it must also be accepted that effective control of such white
collar crime is beyond the capacity of any one agency Commonwealth or State.
Because it usually transcends State boundaries, it requires for its control an
organisation with a physical presence in all the States and Territories. The
Government in this year's budget approved funding of $19 million over three years
for NCA Regional Offices in Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane. Although the ASC has
regional offices in each State and Territory, it is undertaking at least 16
extremely large corporate investigations. This will place a considerable strain
on its investigative effort. The task is, however, within the capacity
of a cohesive combination of existing agencies utilising joint task forces;
allocation of clearly defined responsibilities and proper supervision and
co-ordination. Within this concept I propose that the NCA perform both
co-ordinating and participating roles in partnership with the existing
agencies.
PROPOSAL
Because the joint task force concept has proved itself in Australia and
in many jurisdictions overseas, I propose that in each State and Territory a
Serious White Collar Crime Task Force be set up. Essentially, these task forces
would be involved in investigations into the sort of activities in the
corporate area which have caused so much adverse comment in recent years. Each
Task Force would have a designated leader so identified for the public and the
business community in each State and Territory. A typical task force would
involve a police component (possibly from the State/Territory Fraud Squad); an
NCA component; an ASC component; a CTRA component and retained lawyers and
accountants as necessary. There is a clear need for flexibility. In some
States and Territories the task forces might be quite small; in
others a larger group would be required. A leader might be a police
officer, an NCA staff member, an ASC staff member or any other person deemed
appropriate. As it is inevitable that their inquiries will transcend
jurisdictional boundaries and as a national effort is required, I would propose
that these task forces be co-ordinated and supervised by a small and cohesive
group. This group would comprise the Chairman of the NCA; Commonwealth DPP;
Chairman of the ASC or his nominee; Commissioner, AFP, and by rotation (perhaps
each 12 months) a State/Territory Commissioner. This co-ordination group would, in turn, report to the IGC. If liaison
with the Standing Committee of the Attorneys-General be needed, the Chairman of
the IGC could perform this function.
If these proposals are implemented, a substantial reduction in direct
drug-related references/inquiries will ensue. In those such references that
continue, the NCA will perform a specialised role with emphasis on
co-ordination and provision of complementary services to other agencies. Thus,
there will be a change of direction from the earlier years of the Authority
when the great expertise of a previous Chairman led to a degree of
concentration on drug-related matters.
PROPOSAL FOR OTHER "PARTNERSHIP" ACTIVITIES
1) I propose that the NCA
organise and provide a venue for an Annual Intelligence Dissemination and
Operational Debriefing Conference to be attended by representatives of all the
Police services, NCA, ASC, ATO, Customs, CTRA and ABCI.
Representation from the
Police services should include representatives from their intelligence
sections. The Conference would have two components:
(a) Intelligence Dissemination
I envisage this
component as providing a forum for a full and frank exchange of intelligence. I
declare the Authority to be fully committed to such an exchange.
(b) Operational Debriefing
At this
component the following questions would be posed. "With respect to
operations against organised crime in the last 12 months - what went right?
Why? What went wrong? Why?" The NCA would be responsible for the collation
and distribution to the constituent agencies of material emerging from the
Conference.
This conference should
provide the basis for the Authority to provide a national overview of organised
crime and to discharge its operational law reform role.
2) I propose that the NCA
organise and provide a venue for an Annual Conference on a Criminal Justice
Theme. From early 1992, over a dozen extremely large white collar prosecutions
are likely to be commenced in superior courts before juries. Irrespective of whether
convictions or acquittals result, the public will demand that the prosecutions
are, and are seen to be, fairly and competently conducted. I propose a
conference for July 1991: "The Presentation of Complex Corporate Prosecutions
to Juries". (Date now fixed 22-24 July 1991). Mr Mark Weinberg QC,
Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, will be the opening keynote
speaker. Other speakers will include Mr Allan Green QC, the English Director of
Public Prosecutions, and Ms Barbara Mills QC, Director of the English Serious
Fraud Office.
The Conference will be
public and held at the Commonwealth court Complex, 9th Floor, 10 Queens Road,
South Melbourne. It is intended that a courtroom appropriate for the 1990s will
be designed and set up at that site. It will include the most advanced
technology available. This Conference will be open to the media.
CURRENT REFERENCES/INQUIRIES
A review is already being conducted to identify non-viable
references/inquiries.
The resolution of the Inter-Governmental Committee on 9 March 1990 will
be utilized. This resolution noted "... the current practice of the
Authority to cease or scale down inquiries at what it considers is the
appropriate point".
I commend these proposals to the Committee.
Mr Justice J.H. Phillips
15 November 1990
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