Chapter 1Introduction

1.1The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement (the committee) has a duty to examine each annual report on the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC).[1] The duty arises from an expectation that agencies which have been granted strong coercive powers, such as the ACIC, should be subject to additional oversight.[2]

1.2The ACIC’s annual report for 2023-24 was tabled in the Senate on 31October2024 and House of Representatives on 4 November 2024.[3] The letter of transmittal indicates that it was presented to the Attorney-General, the Hon Mark Dreyfus KC MP, on 30 September 2024.[4]

1.3As part of its scrutiny processes, the committee gathered evidence from ACIC officials at a public hearing on 6 February 2025 in Canberra. A list of witnesses is at Appendix 1. The committee thanks witnesses for their contribution to the committee’s inquiry.

Structure of this report

1.4This chapter provides administrative details about the committee’s inquiry and key background about the ACIC. Chapter 2 discusses key issues relating to ACIC’s performance and presents the committee’s view.

1.5Matters that fall outside the 2023-24 reporting period have been included in this report where necessary for completeness.

Key background

1.6The purpose of the ACIC is to ‘protect Australia from serious crime threats by collecting, assessing and disseminating intelligence and policing information’. Its vision is ‘[a]n Australia hostile to criminal exploitation’.[5]

1.7The ACIC Board comprises ‘senior officeholders of Commonwealth, state and territory law enforcement bodies and key regulatory and national security agencies’.[6] The Board set out four objectives for the ACIC in the Strategic Direction 2024–2028:

mission critical intelligence at pace.

hardening the environment to transnational serious and organised crime.

trusted services and information sharing.

innovation through emerging technologies and our diverse workforce.[7]

1.8During 2023–24, leadership of the ACIC was performed by:

Mr Matthew Rippon, who acted in the CEO position, from 13November2022 to 14 January 2024.

Ms Heather Cook, who was appointed as CEO from 15 January 2024.[8]

Footnotes

[1]Paragraph 7(1)(c), Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement Act 2010.

[2]See the Hon Robert McClelland MP, Attorney-General, House of Representatives Hansard, 18March2010, pp. 2924 – 2925.

[3]Journals of the Senate,No. 139, 31 October 2024, p. 4235; House of Representatives Votes and Proceedings, No. 150, 4 November 2024, p. 1954.

[4]ACIC, Annual Report 2023-24, p. vi.

[5]ACIC, Annual Report 2023-24, p. ii.

[6]ACIC, Annual Report 2023-24, p. 10.

[7]ACIC, Annual Report 2023-24, p. 5.

[8]ACIC, Annual Report 2023-24, p. 8.