Navigation: Previous Page | Contents | Next Page
CHAPTER 2
Australian Crime Commission Annual Report 2011–12
Background
2.1
The ACC is established under the Australian Crime Commission Act 2002
(the ACC Act) as a statutory authority to combat serious and organised crime.[1]
It has 'primary responsibility' for combating nationally significant organised
crime in Australia.[2]
The ACC works with partners across law enforcement, national security, government
and industry and provides a 'unique and valuable understanding of serious and
organised crime, necessary to identify, disrupt and prevent the threats of most
harm to the community'.[3]
Annual report compliance
2.2
The ACC annual report must comply with requirements specified in
section 61 of the ACC Act. Subsection 61(2) requires that the report must
include the following:
- a description of any investigation into matters relating to
federally relevant criminal activity that the ACC conducted during the year and
that the Board determined to be a special investigation;
- 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 ACC during that year in the performance of its functions;
- 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 the ACC’s functions, the Board considers
should be made;
- the general nature and the extent of any information furnished by
the CEO during that year to a law enforcement agency;
-
the general nature and the extent of any information disclosed by
the CEO during that year to a body corporate under section 59AB;
-
the extent to which investigations by the ACC have resulted in
the prosecution in that year of persons for offences;
- the extent to which investigations by the ACC have resulted in
confiscation proceedings;
- particulars of the number and results of:
- 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 the ACC Act; and
- other court proceedings involving the ACC;
being applications and
proceedings that were determined, or otherwise disposed of, during that year.[4]
2.3
The ACC is a prescribed agency for the purposes of the Financial
Management and Accountability Act 1997 (FMA Act). As an FMA Act agency, the
ACC must comply with the Requirements for Annual Reports for Departments,
Executive Agencies and FMA Act Bodies, prepared by the Department of the Prime
Minister and Cabinet and approved by the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and
Audit.
2.4
Based on the committee's assessment, the report meets the above
requirements.
Emerging serious and organised crime threats and the ACC's response
2.5
In the review by the ACC Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr John Lawler
acknowledged new threats in 'cybercrime, offshore investment frauds, virtual
illicit marketplaces, and harvesting of online personal and financial
information'.[5]
When questioned by the committee about these four emerging threats, Mr Lawler identified
cyber environment as the key threat for law enforcement. He noted that:
It has enabled organised crime like never before, in a whole
range of different ways, and it has put the question of jurisdiction in question.
Because these crimes are happening in cyberspace with anonymity it is often
very difficult to understand where the crime is being perpetrated from. There
need to be sophisticated capacities to deal with that. These people are very
nimble and they are globally connected so that they can respond very flexibly
and very quickly to crime opportunities.
I have used the example of the stimulus payment. Fraudsters
in West Africa, within 24 hours, were sending unsolicited emails looking to get
bank account details from people so the stimulus payment could be made to them.
These are often people who have never come to Australia, never will come to
Australia, do not have any assets in Australia and are often outside the reach
of judicial processes from Australia. So there is a significant challenge, and
in some ways there needs to be a rethink about what sort of treatments and
tools might be used to disrupt, deter or dismantle these criminal networks.[6]
2.6
Mr Lawler explained that tackling the cyber environment required the
application of non-traditional law enforcement methods while new skills were
needed to deal with some of its challenges. He noted that the cyber environment
was 'profoundly' changing traditional community policing and organised crime
responses as a judicial context in which a person is arrested, charged and put
before the courts is 'impotent' in the context of some offences carried out in
cyberspace.[7]
2.7
At the same time, 'traditional' illegal activities remain serious
threats with the illicit drug market continuing to serve as a key source of
profit for serious and organised crime. Mr Lawler noted the serious impact of
illicit drug abuse on the country's health infrastructure and its social cost
which is estimated at $8 billion a year.[8]
The illicit drug market, which accounts for a significant proportion of the
profits generated by organised crime, and high risk transnational crime groups
continue to view Australia as an attractive market. This is because of:
...new and emerging distribution networks, high discretionary
income, high consumer demand and therefore the high return on investment and
relative safety of remotely coordinating trafficking of illicit drugs to
Australia. These groups partner with domestic groups who provide specialist
facilitators capable of smuggling illicit drugs through border controls, and
access to money launderers who repatriate the transnational groups' profit
share.[9]
2.8
ACC intelligence confirms that the highest serious and organised crime
entities 'continue to significantly influence Australia's illicit commodity
markets, and are present in all Australian states and territories'. Most of the
groups operate in two or more jurisdictions and transnationally while many have
also established a presence within legitimate sectors to facilitate their
criminal activity.[10]
2.9
The ACC reduces serious and organised crime threats 'by working in
partnership to protect the community through knowledge'.[11]
The ACC's single intended outcome is to achieve a:
Reduction in the threat and impact of serious and organised
crime, through analysis of and operations against national criminal activity,
for governments, law enforcement agencies and private sector organisations.[12]
2.10
In order to achieve this outcome, the ACC 'enhances' national
collaboration against organised crime through six mechanisms:
-
national criminal intelligence data holdings;
-
coercive powers;
-
strategic products;
-
legislative framework providing for data sharing;
-
specialist skills; and
-
the Fusion capability.
ACC priorities in 2011–12
2.11
There were nine priorities for the ACC over the review period. These
included:
-
highest risk criminal targets;
-
targeting criminal wealth;
-
high risk and emerging drugs;
-
national security impacts from serious and organised crime;
-
making Australian hostile to serious and organised crime;
-
establishing Criminal Networks–Victoria;
-
high risk crime groups–South Australia;
-
the National Indigenous Intelligence Taskforce (National
Indigenous Violence or Child Abuse No. 2); and
-
child sex offences.[13]
2.12
However, the annual report also noted that:
In light of several changes occurring in the criminal
intelligence priority setting environment, such as the Commonwealth Organised
Crime Strategic Framework and associated Commonwealth and National Organised
Crime Response Plans, the purpose and the function of the National Criminal
Intelligence Priorities are currently under review.[14]
2.13
As part of this review, the role, function and framework of the National
Criminal Intelligence Priorities (NCIPs) are under discussion with a revised
NCIP framework expected to include an updated set of NCIPs that will reflect
the framework's objectives.[15]
The ACC noted that it was pre-emptive to indicate which of the nine priority
areas (which are currently approved ACC Special Investigations and Special
Operations) are likely to be reprioritised in light of changes to the NCIPs.[16]
Developments and key achievements over the year in review
2.14
One of the major developments for the ACC during the review period which
will impact its reach and ability to share information and intelligence was
legislative reform. The Crimes Legislation Amendment (Powers and Offences)
Act 2012 came into effect in late June 2012 providing the ACC with the
capacity to share its information with partner agencies, government and foreign
bodies, and the private sector. Of the legislation, the ACC noted:
This significant change recognises the importance of being
able to use criminal intelligence outside law enforcement, to enhance private
sector capacity to protect against exploitation by serious and organised crime
groups. For example, this can lead to more preventative partnerships with
industry, improved policies and programs, informed decisions or triggers for
further investigations that help reduce the cost of fraud in the private sector
through early detection.[17]
Task forces
2.15
During the committee's examination of the annual report, Mr Lawler
highlighted the important work that task forces have undertaken over the review
period. The ACC-led Task Force Galilee was established in response to growing
concern about serious and organised investment fraud which cost 2600
Australians more than $113 million in the last five years.[18]
The ACC engaged in identifying and disrupting these fraudulent activities with
over 40 partner agencies and industry organisations on superannuation fraud. Mr
Lawler explained that cyber-enabled individuals were targeting the life savings
of Australians without even entering the country. He noted that cybercrimes of
this nature was a focus area for the ACC. As part of the preventative measures
taken by the ACC to deal with these threats, the ACC conducted a mail-out to
every household in Australia which provided information about how to 'deal with
unsolicited requests from these cyber-enabled criminals'.[19]
2.16
Mr Lawler also drew attention to the ACC's work in the Attero National
Task Force. Established in June 2012, this task force targets the Rebels outlaw
motorcycle gang.[20]
2.17
Other key ACC achievements for 2011–12 include the:
- Fusion Capability—phase two of the Fusion program was completed
during the year to enhance 'underlying technologies and analysis tools'.[21]
Fusion was launched in July 2010 with $14.3 million allocated over four years.
Fusion achievements include the identification of more than 70 high-threat
criminal targets previously unknown to national law enforcement and 1200
intelligence products for 83 partners during the review period.[22]
- Production of 1884 analytical and tactical intelligence products
provided to partners through 5629 disseminations resulting in 26 disruptions to
criminal entities.[23]
In addition, 35 topical strategic assessments were produced to inform future
intelligence work and policy development in areas including assessment of the
organised threat to the Australian carbon pricing mechanism, the cybercrime
threat to Australia, and the national illicit firearms market.[24]
Financial management and resourcing
2.18
On 30 June 2012, the ACC comprised 598 staff in nine offices around the
country.[25]
By comparison, as at June 2011, ACC had a total of 628 staff.[26]
2.19
The ACC received an unqualified audit opinion from the ANAO.[27]
2.20
In terms of financial management, ACC's financial result for 2011-12 was
a deficit of $4.143 million. The annual report notes that:
Due to accounting treatments and taking into account unfunded
depreciation, the ACC reported result was a surplus of $1.921 million. Without
accounting treatments, in real terms, the ACC had an operating expenditure
deficit of $0.705 million.[28]
2.21
The deficit was a consequence of the bond rate changing on employee
provisions of $0.507 million and superannuation contributions due to staff
transfer of $0.196 million.[29]
2.22
The ACC's total appropriation for 2011–12 was $90.602 million which
included tied funding of $9.860 million and base funding of $80.742.[30]
Security breaches
2.23
In 2011–12, there were 98 security incidents over the period 1 January
to 31 December 2012 which included:
- ICT security breach: 15
- Physical security breach: 71
- Unauthorised disclosure: 4
- Maverick individuals (suspicious activity by an individual in or
around the ACC premises): 7
- Contact (an ACC employee has come into contact with a
representative of a foreign country or with criminal elements): 1
2.24
Physical security breaches made up over 72 per cent of all the breaches
reported. Of the 71 physical security breaches, most amounted to a failure to
adhere to the 'clear desk policy'. Examples include classified documents left
on desks, secure containers left open, and lost ACC access passes. The ACC
explained that these incidents were mostly internal and classified as minor in
impact.[31]
2.25
The ACC noted that there was no security incident reported during the
review period which resulted in Code of Conduct action. It was also emphasised
that the increase in reported security incidents was expected following the
introduction of an awareness raising program.
2.26
Since the last review period, the ACC took a series of steps to improve
ACC staff security awareness and to report security incidents including:
- automated and simplified self-reporting of security incidents in
July 2012;
-
increasing the number of security audits across all ACC offices;
-
rolling out a Protective security Awareness online package which
is compulsory for all staff;
- production and dissemination of security awareness posters to all
ACC offices; and
-
review and dissemination of Protective Security policy.[32]
2.27
In comparison to the 98 breaches in 2011–12, the committee notes that
from 2007 to 2011, there were a total of 62 breaches as follows:
- 2007: 2
- 2008: 8
- 2009: 13
- 2010: 21
- 2011: 18.[33]
2.28
In March 2012, the ACC acknowledged that the number of breaches was
higher than it would have liked. It explained that it would 'continue to be
vigilant about security and is continually improving risk assessment,
monitoring, investigation and review and internal awareness raising'.[34]
2.29
The committee acknowledges that initiatives undertaken over the review
period to develop a self-reporting culture and improve security awareness may
have led to an increase in the number of security breaches that are reported. Notwithstanding
unique circumstances, as a security-conscious culture within the ACC
strengthens, however, the number of security breaches should start to decline.
The committee will continue to monitor security breaches in the next reporting
period and the effectiveness of the measures in place to raise security
awareness.
Navigation: Previous Page | Contents | Next Page
Top
|