Serious and organised crime

The impact of serious and organised crime on Australia

Organised crime is a chronic and pervasive threat to Australia's national security. Organised crime systematically targets the safety, security and trust of our law-abiding citizens, the prosperity of our businesses and economy, and the integrity of our institutions. 

Organised crime corrodes Australia's national sovereignty. It has long term impacts on individuals and society. Criminals actively seek to:

• compromise the integrity of our borders, trafficking drugs and other illicit commodities, destroying lives, damaging communities and fuelling violence
• undermine our institutions of government through corruption and by defrauding governments of funds that were to be spent on essential services such as health care and education
• abuse our tax and financial systems by laundering money, distorting economic markets and swindling Australians out of their savings.

The most harmful and significant serious and organised crime threats impacting Australia transcend our borders and have offshore links. This was highlighted in an Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) report, Organised Crime in Australia 2017. This type of crime is known as transnational, serious and organised crime (TSOC).

The Australian community feels the impact and costs of TSOC locally. A report by the Australian Institute of Criminology, Estimating the costs of serious and organised crime in Australia, 2020-21 revealed that TSOC costs the Australian community up to $60.1 billion each year.

Organised crime is an enduring and highly resilient threat to Australia. All jurisdictions need to work closely together to combat this issue. Protecting the community is the highest priority of all Australian governments.

The National Strategy to Fight Transnational, Serious and Organised Crime

The National Strategy to Fight Transnational, Serious and Organised Crime guides Australia's collective response to TSOC. The National Strategy supports governments, the private sector, civil society organisations and the community to develop individual and collective responses to the threat.

The National Strategy is a high-level framework that supports agencies and law enforcement bodies to remain agile and flexible in their approach to countering organised crime. It highlights the need to take a unified approach, engaging with domestic and international partners to collectively address organised crime.

The National Strategy outlines 4 pillars that guide national efforts and inform crime-specific action plans:

• Integrated – draw on all our tools of government (policy, legislation, research, technology and intelligence) to use the right intervention at the right time.
• United – use partnerships across governments, the private sector, civil society, academia, the Australian community and the world.
• Capable – make sure those fighting organised crime have the right people, systems, technology, infrastructure and data now and into the future.
• Evolving – critically evaluate our strengths and weaknesses to keep pace with rapidly changing threats. 

National Strategic Priorities

Guided by the National Strategy, Australian governments have agreed to 5 high-level National Strategic Priorities to drive nationally consistent counter-organised crime responses:

• Safeguard the Australian community from TSOC harms.
• Take the fight offshore and harden Australian borders.
• Remove the profit from criminal networks.
• Protect institutions and public revenue.
• Disrupt TSOC exploitation of emerging technologies.

The Australian Transnational, Serious and Organised Crime Committee

In 2018, the Commonwealth and state and territory governments endorsed the National Strategy to Fight Transnational, Serious and Organised Crime. To drive implementation and monitoring of the National Strategy, they also established the Australian Transnational, Serious and Organised Crime Committee (ATSOCC).

The ATSOCC's mission is to:

• oversee the implementation and monitoring of the National Strategy
• build on understandings of current and emerging TSOC threats and enablers on a national and international level, drawing on existing threat assessments
• provide strategic and policy advice to government ministers on national priorities to combat TSOC
• provide a forum that maintains and enhances inter-jurisdictional cooperation and collaboration across all levels of government to identify, develop and progress opportunities to implement a multi-faceted and holistic approach to combatting TSOC using all available tools
• enhance capability to combat TSOC at a national level and within each state and territory.