Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I present two reports of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement as listed at item 16 of today's Order of Business, together with accompanying documents. I move:

That the Senate take note of the reports.

I rise as Chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement to speak on the committee's report examining the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission annual reports for 2020-21 and 2021-22. The committee has a statutory duty to monitor and review the performance of the ACIC by examining each of its annual reports.

The committee is pleased to report that the ACIC performed satisfactorily in 2020-21 and 2021-22, achieving significant outcomes despite the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. The committee heard from the ACIC officials that the volume and tempo of the agency's work remained high during both reporting years.

The ACIC achieved a range of positive operational results by focusing on serious and organised crime and its networks that cause the greatest harm to Australia. In partnership with other law enforcement agencies, the ACIC's criminal intelligence efforts disrupted 107 criminal entities across the two reporting periods. The ACIC continues to make important contributions to operational activities such as Operation Ironside, which was led by the Australian Federal Police and involved the management and access of a dedicated encrypted communications platform to target criminal syndicates and led to hundreds of search warrants and arrests across the globe.

Despite external demands on the National Police Checking Service, which impacted the agency's ability to meet its timeliness benchmarks for standard and urgent police checks, the ACIC processed more than 6.7 million checks in 2021-22, 18.3 per cent more than its four-year average—a notable achievement. The ACIC did not meet one of its performance criteria relating to the National Police Checking Service during both reporting periods; however, the committee acknowledges that the ACIC has adopted several mitigating strategies to improve its performance, including working closely with its police partners. The committee will review the effects of these mitigation strategies in 2022-23.

The ACIC's redeveloped stakeholder survey now targets partners who are better placed to comment on the quality of the agency's services. The committee is pleased that in 2021-22 survey participants reflected positively on the ACIC, noting that the ACIC's national policing information systems were of value to their work. The ACIC's insights and research on drug consumption and law enforcement drug seizures were of particular interest to the committee, as it is currently holding an inquiry into Australia's illicit drug problem, focusing on the challenges and opportunities for law enforcement in this area. The committee commends the National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program, which provides valuable insights into drug consumption trends across Australia and identifies new sources of threat.

Lastly, the committee thanks ACIC executives and the dedicated staff of the ACIC for their efforts and achievements in protecting Australia from serious criminal threats in 2020-21 and 2021-22. The committee also extends its thanks to Mr Michael Phelan, who led the ACIC and the Australian Institute of Criminology from November 2017 to November 2022. The committee thanks Mr Phelan for his dedication to disrupting criminal networks over his extensive career and helping to make Australia safer by positioning the ACIC to meet the challenges of a complex and continually evolving global organised crime environment. Thank you.

I also rise as Chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement to speak about the committee's report examining the Australian Federal Police annual reports for 2020-21 and 2021-22.

One of the committee's key roles is to provide oversight of the AFP by examining each of the AFP's annual reports. This role recognises that agencies which have been granted strong coercive powers, such as the AFP, should be subject to additional oversight.

Like all Commonwealth agencies, one of the challenges facing the AFP in recent years is the COVID-19 pandemic. As people began to spend more time online, the AFP responded by ramping up its efforts to combat online child exploitation. This included releasing a podcast called Closing the net to raise community awareness about the serious risks children can face online.

This was a long-term covert investigation involving collaboration with the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation. Prosecutions arriving from the operation are ongoing, but as at June 2022 there had been: 774 search warrants executed in Australia; 383 offenders charged; and seizures of 6339 kilograms of drugs, $55.6 million in cash, 69 firearms and 78 weapons.

I commend the AFP for continuing to perform well in service of the Australian community. I also wish to thank the AFP officers who gave evidence to the committee, as well as my fellow committee members for their contributions to the committee's important scrutiny work. I thank them, and I commend these reports to this chamber. They will be of great interest, I'm sure, to all my colleagues.

I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.