Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I present the report of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian Crime Commission, Examination of the annual report of the Australian Crime Commission 2005-06, together with the Hansard record of proceedings.

Ordered that the report be printed.

I move:

That the Senate take note of the report

The annual report of the Australian Crime Commission 2005-06 was tabled in both houses on 5 December last year, in accordance with section 61 of the Australian Crime Commission Act 2002. The role of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian Crime Commission includes examining and reporting to parliament on any matter appearing in, or arising out of, each annual report of the Australian Crime Commission. To examine the commission’s annual report for 2005-06, the committee held a hearing in Canberra on 30 March this year. This year’s report covers the third full year of the commission’s operation and gives the committee, the parliament and the electorate the opportunity to evaluate the Australian Crime Commission’s progress and its performance in enhancing Australian law enforcement capacity and combating serious and organised crime in Australia.

Unlike the committee’s reports from previous years, this year’s report makes no recommendations. However, a number of recommendations from previous reports are highlighted as being of enduring relevance and worth. These include the recommendation that the Commissioner of Taxation be appointed to the board of the Australian Crime Commission—that recommendation is awaiting a government response—and a further recommendation that the ACC annually prepare and release a declassified version of the Picture of Criminality in Australia report. The government accepted this recommendation in its response of 17 August last year, and the committee looks forward to this publication informing both public debate and the committee’s work in the future.

An abiding issue surrounding not only the ACC but also police agencies more generally is the question of how performance is measured in an accurate, meaningful and useful way. Better systems of assessing and reporting on police agencies’ performance allow more objective and qualitative assessments of their essential work and enable more strategic and efficient allocation and targeting of physical and financial resources to areas of crime. The committee is therefore pleased to note that the report outlines the ACC’s current efforts, in partnership with an academic institution and a partner agency, to develop a system to better measure the true effectiveness and value of intelligence information. The committee regards the development of this effectiveness and efficiency framework as emblematic of the ACC’s commitment to continuously improving its systems of reporting and to facilitating the operation of the accountability mechanisms that govern its operations. The committee awaits with interest the outcome of this project and expects its inquiries in the future to be enhanced by the availability of more sophisticated and informative assessments of the value of the ACC’s work and achievements.

The committee also wants to place on record its acknowledgement of the assistance of the chairman of the ACC board, Commissioner Mick Keelty; the CEO, Mr Alastair Milroy; and the officers of the Australian Crime Commission. Throughout the reporting period, the ACC has provided considerable assistance to the committee through written reports, ad hoc briefings and formal presentations. The commission’s accessibility has been of great assistance and has contributed to the creation of a transparent and cooperative relationship between the Australian Crime Commission and the parliamentary committee.

The committee further acknowledges the assistance of Professor John McMillan, the Commonwealth Ombudsman; Dr Vivienne Thom, who is currently the Acting Commonwealth Ombudsman; and their staff. The Ombudsman’s office provides a useful annual briefing to the committee and more generally defines the standards of accountability and professionalism to which public agencies must be held.

Finally, on behalf of the committee, I thank Dr Jacqueline Dewar, Anne O’Connell, Ivan Powell and the other staff of the secretariat for their work on this report and for the continued support they provide to the committee. I commend the report to the Senate.

Question agreed to.