Serious and organised crime is a national security threat that impacts Australia’s security and stability. Criminal networks targeting Australia are increasingly transnational and do not respect state or national borders. They are highly agile, well-funded and adopt new technology at pace to advance their criminal enterprises.
Jurisdictions of risk pose challenges to intelligence and law enforcement agencies trying to protect Australia’s national interests in an increasingly challenging global strategic context. These areas, known as offshore safe havens, often have weak legal and regulatory frameworks, making it easier for criminals to operate without detection. These safe havens can be exploited for activities such as money laundering, terrorism financing, transhipment of illicit goods, and other forms of organised crime.
We have strategically positioned our personnel across the globe, enabling intelligence analysts and investigators to work in unison to drive offshore, upstream efforts. International reach enables us to work with a variety of partner agencies to target high-priority offshore locations, significantly enhancing the reach of our criminal intelligence collection operations.
Partnering with foreign law enforcement, the National Intelligence Community, and the Five Eyes Law Enforcement Group, we contribute to ongoing, integrated strategies that disrupt and isolate key components of criminal networks targeting Australia. We also maintain relationships with over 30 foreign law enforcement personnel from 10 countries who are based in Australia. Our relationships with these agencies, and the valuable intelligence they provide, has been critical to achieving operational success – nothing builds relationships faster than shared positive outcomes for our respective nations.
Combatting transnational crime is an internationally shared goal, and building strong relationships with partners offshore based on trust is vital to making Australia hostile to transnational serious and organised crime threats.