International Serious and Organised Crime Conference 2013
 

Preventative partnerships in the fight against transnational organised crime

Speaker: , Secretary, Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department

This presentation would examine the increasing importance of preventative approaches in the Australian Government’s response to transnational serious and organised crime.

Serious and organised crime has evolved to increasingly connect the domestic and international, to target regulatory gaps between jurisdictions and between the private and public spheres. Responding to the threats posed by transnational serious and organised crime requires us to look beyond traditional law enforcement methods. While those methods remain of fundamental importance, they must be complemented by approaches with prevention at their heart.

Part of this preventative approach relies on identifying vulnerabilities to criminal exploitation in government, business and the community, and putting in place mechanisms and structures to make that exploitation more difficult. Government must give businesses and individuals the information and tools necessary to stop infiltration of serious and organised criminal groups.

Preventative approaches also recognise that government does not hold all the information and levers necessary to combat serious and organised crime. Genuine partnerships and engagement with industry are crucial, allowing both government and industry to harness each other’s particular expertise in preventing harm to Australian society and the economy.