We are a Commonwealth statutory agency, established under the Australian Crime Commission Act 2002 with roles and functions underpinned by supporting legislation in each state and territory.

Structure

Figure 1.1 sets out the organisational structure of the agency. Section 3 of the report provides more information on the members of our executive, our staffing and the locations of our activities.

Figure 1.1: Organisational structure at 30 June 2019

Board

The ACIC Board represents Commonwealth, state and territory law enforcement, and key regulatory and national security agencies.

The board is responsible for providing strategic direction to the ACIC, setting strategic priorities and approving our use of special coercive powers. The board is also responsible for determining the ACIC’s special operations and special investigations.

As a powerful law enforcement and national security body, the board provides a significant platform to drive the collegial approach necessary to make Australia better connected, informed and capable of responding to crime.

Specialist capabilities

The capabilities that enable us to perform our functions include:

• National criminal intelligence data holdings—We collect criminal intelligence and combine it with information and intelligence from partner agencies to create and share a comprehensive national picture of criminality in Australia.
• National information and intelligence sharing services and systems—We provide timely and reliable police and law enforcement information services and, through consultation and collaboration, we develop new and innovative capabilities.
• Coercive powers—Our coercive powers, similar to those of a royal commission, are used in special operations and special investigations to obtain information when traditional law enforcement methods are unlikely to be or have not been effective.
• International collaboration—We work in collaboration with international networks and have deployed ACIC officers to countries of strategic importance in our efforts to counteract serious and organised crime impacting Australia.
• Strategic products—Our strategic intelligence products build a comprehensive picture of criminality in Australia to support our partners in decision-making, strategic targeting and policy development.
• National target management framework—Our national target management framework guides law enforcement in establishing and sharing organised crime priorities and targets. This framework and our Australian Priority Organisation Target list support nationally coordinated operational strategies for dealing with multijurisdictional and transnational serious and organised crime investigations.
• Legislative framework allowing appropriate data sharing—By sharing intelligence, information, resources and expertise with our partners, and with private industry where permitted and appropriate, we maximise the collective impact against crime. We are a conduit between the states and territories and the Commonwealth for the sharing of criminal information and intelligence.
• Specialist technology and skills—Our work is underpinned by sophisticated and tailored intelligence gathering and analysis capabilities.

Relationship with the Australian Institute of Criminology

We support and collaborate closely with staff of the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC). Our CEO is also Director of the AIC, and AIC staff have transferred to the ACIC under a machinery of government process. The AIC is co-located with the ACIC, and ACIC staff are seconded back to the AIC, to ensure that criminological research and evidence remain central to law enforcement’s collective response to crime. The ACIC also provides shared administrative services to the AIC, including finance, people and ICT.

While the AIC operates independently, its high-quality research is important to our work.