14 May 2013
The 2013-14 Federal Budget includes $149.9 million in new funding over the forward estimates to target gang violence, organised crime and the illegal firearms market and to fund community safety infrastructure and youth outreach programs.
This new funding is a critical part of the Gillard Government’s focus on making Australian stronger, smarter and fairer.
The plan to tackle crime includes:
- $64.1 million to establish a National Anti-Gang Taskforce to fight gang-related crime across Australia;
- $40.9 million to target crime hotspots through the National Crime Prevention Fund;
- $30.2 million to establish a National Border Targeting Centre to target high risk international passengers and cargo;
- $9.1 million to establish an Australian Ballistics Identification Network to analyse firearms that are seized from criminals; and
- $5.6 million to expand the work of the successful Taskforce Polaris which was established in Sydney in 2010 to investigate organised crime on the waterfront. The taskforce is being expanded to Brisbane and Melbourne.
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National Anti-Gang Taskforce
The National Anti-Gang Taskforce will be made up of 70 members from the Australian Federal Police and State Police Forces and will include officers from the Australian Crime Commission, the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, the Australian Taxation Office and Centrelink.
The job of the taskforce will be to directly target, investigate and arrest gang members across Australia.
Strike teams are being established in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane with liaison officers to be based in Adelaide, Darwin and Perth. These officers will work with a newly established Australian Gang Intelligence Centre which has been established to provide national criminal intelligence on gang activity across Australia and overseas.
The Australian Federal Police Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce will support the strike teams through asset confiscation in relation to gang-related crimes.
The taskforce will commence operations on July 1, 2013 and will be fully operational by January 2014.
National Crime Prevention Fund
The National Crime Prevention Fund will use funds confiscated from criminals to fund community safety infrastructure like closed-circuit television (CCTV) systems and street lighting.
The Fund will also expand youth mentoring and outreach programs run by Father Chris Riley’s Youth Off The Streets, Police-Citizens Youth Clubs and other not-for-profit organisations that target young people at risk of falling off the tracks and getting involved in crime.
National Border Targeting Centre
Law enforcement experts advise that intelligence is the key to seizing drugs and other contraband on the streets and at the border.
To enhance Australia’s intelligence capability in this area, a new National Border Targeting Centre will be established to target high-risk international passengers and cargo.
It will use an intelligence-led, risk-based approach to target threats to the border and the community.
The National Border Targeting Centre is based on the National Targeting Centre in the United States and the National Border Targeting Centre in the United Kingdom.
Australian Ballistics Identification Network
The Australian Ballistics Identification Network (ABIN) will allow the use of advanced technology to undertake ballistics analysis of seized firearms. The technology can be used to link firearms seized from criminals to crimes that have occurred in the past.
The Australian Federal Police and NSW Police currently use an Integrated Ballistics Identification System.
The national roll-out of the ABIN will build a database of all firearms used in crimes across all states and territories and will enhance the investigative capability of police across Australia.
The ABIN is part of a package of reforms, agreed to by State and Territory Police Ministers, to tackle the illegal firearms market from every angle – to seize the illegal firearms, to break the code of silence, to improve our ability to trace illegal firearms, to strengthen laws and harden the border.
The funding will enable a national roll-out of the ABIN by the end of 2014. Funding is also provided to continue integration of the ABIN with state and territory police systems in coming years.
Taskforce Polaris
The Federal Government established Taskforce Polaris in 2010 to investigate organised crime on the waterfront in Sydney. Polaris involves officers from the Australian Federal Police and the New South Wales Police Force as well as officials from Customs, the Australian Crime Commission and the New South Wales Crime Commission.
Taskforce Polaris has resulted in more than 30 arrests and 154 charges being laid to date.
The additional funding will be used to expand the taskforces in Melbourne where it is known as Operation Trident and to Brisbane as Operation Jericho where it will begin operations in July this year.
