Targeting Vulnerabilities—Private sector engagement and non-traditional outcomes

In July 2010, the Polaris taskforce commenced operation within New South Wales (NSW). The taskforce, comprising of the Australian Federal Police (AFP), NSW Police Force, the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service, the Australian Crime Commission and the NSW Crime Commission, aims to target, disrupt and dismantle organised crime and corruption in the maritime environment. Since its inception, the Polaris taskforce has identified a number of vulnerabilities on the waterfront, which has resulted in the expansion of taskforces into Victoria and Queensland and Western Australia.

To this end, a waterfront taskforce model was created to provide a consistent national framework for the expansion. In partnership with the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity, an integrity cell was developed to sit within the taskforce model and better coordinate corruption allegations identified from investigations within the taskforce environment.

Whilst a number of the identified vulnerabilities can be targeted through traditional policing methodologies it has been established that significant vulnerabilities in the supply chain, from point of departure to point of arrival, can only be effectively negated through a coordinated national approach by all public and private stakeholders. Engagement between industry bodies and law enforcement agencies is vital to the success of this approach.

To inform this engagement the AFP designed and facilitated a National Waterfront Industry Engagement Forum which took place in October 2012. The forum brought together all relevant Commonwealth and State agencies with representatives of the Australian Ports Authority, Freight Forwarders and Customs Brokers Australia, as well as a number of other private companies heavily engaged in the maritime sector. This forum saw agreement between all parties in identifying a pathway for timely information sharing and intelligence exchange as well as gaining industry experience in targeting serious and organised crime. The AFP will continue to foster and promote private sector engagement as part of a collaborative approach to combating organised crime in Australia.