Foreword

The criminal landscape in Australia has fundamentally shifted. Today’s serious and organised crime networks are borderless, decentralised, digitally enabled and increasingly embedded within legitimate systems. They operate with the agility and sophistication of multinational businesses: strategic, networked and adaptive.

Opening the Books: the impact of serious and organised crime on Australia in 2025 marks a significant step forward in our commitment to transparency, public engagement and building national resilience to the threat.

Perceptions of serious and organised crime are shaped by its dramatisation in popular culture – through films and series like The Godfather, Narcos and Breaking Bad. These portrayals, while compelling, risk romanticising criminality and obscuring the real world consequences: violence, deaths, exploitation, corruption and billions in economic harm. This report seeks to cut through the fiction and present the facts – how serious and organised crime operates, the harm it causes and how it is evolving.

In recognition of the complexity and scale of the serious and organised crime threat, the Australian Government took action in commissioning – and, in November 2024, releasing its response to – the Independent Review of the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission and associated Commonwealth law enforcement arrangements. The Review’s recommendations set out a blueprint to strengthen the ACIC’s ability to combat the significant threat posed by serious and organised crime. The Review also highlighted the importance of raising public awareness of the seriousness and scale of the impact of serious and organised crime, and increasing understanding of the role of the ACIC and its partners in countering it.

While the scale of the harm is significant, Australians should have confidence in the strength of our national response. Every day agencies are working together to detect and disrupt criminal networks. You need only glance at the headlines to see the results – major drug seizures, scam centre takedowns and violent syndicates dismantled. These outcomes are not isolated – they are the product of coordinated, intelligence-led action.

This report is not just about the impact – it is about resilience. It is about raising awareness about the threats we face and connecting Australians with the work we do with our many national and international partners that serves to protect our communities, and safeguard our institutions and national interests.

I thank our partners across law enforcement, the intelligence community, government and industry for their continued collaboration. Together we are reshaping how Australia understands and responds to serious and organised crime.

Heather Cook
Chief Executive Officer
Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission