EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Select Legislative Instrument 2006 No. 307
Issued by the authority of the Minister for Justice and Customs
Subject: Australian Crime Commission Act 2002
Australian Crime Commission Amendment Regulations 2006 (No. 4)
The Commonwealth Government established the Australian Crime Commission (the ACC) as a cooperative agency to strengthen the fight against nationally significant crime.
Section 62 of the Australian Crime Commission Act 2002 (the Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the Act, prescribing all matters required or permitted by the Act to be prescribed, or matters necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act.
Section 7A of the Act provides that the functions of the ACC include:
(a) collecting, correlating, analysing and disseminating criminal information and intelligence;
(b) conducting intelligence operations; and
(c) conducting investigations into matters relating to federally relevant criminal activity.
The Regulations amend the definition of ‘serious and organised crime’ in subsection 4(1) of the Act to include offences relating to child pornography and child abuse. Paragraph (d) of the definition provides that regulations may prescribe offences in addition to those listed in the definition. These amendments allow the ACC to conduct an intelligence operation or investigation into networks of people using a carriage service to exchange child pornography or child abuse material, or to procure or groom persons under 16 years of age. These types of offences may be committed by organised groups and are often connected with serious State or Territory child sex offences. Therefore, it is necessary to allow the ACC to collect criminal information and/or intelligence and conduct investigations and/or operations concerning these offences.
The Regulations also insert a new item 119A into Schedule 6 to the Principal Regulations to include the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaCSIA) as a body or agency to which the ACC may disseminate information under paragraph 59(7)(c) of the Act.
Schedule 6 lists the bodies and agencies that perform an ancillary or incidental law enforcement role. The Regulations enable the ACC to disseminate relevant criminal intelligence and information to FaCSIA that has been collected by the ACC as a result of Board approved intelligence operations or investigations such as the National Indigenous Violence and Child Abuse Intelligence Task Force established by the ACC Board on 13 July 2006.
The Act specifies no conditions that need to be satisfied before the power to make the amendment Regulations may be exercised.
The Regulations will be a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.
The Regulations will commence on the day after registration.
Consultations regarding these legislative instruments were held with the ACC and FaSCIA. This level of consultation is sufficient given the urgent nature of the amendments arising out of current ACC activities.
The Minute recommends that Regulations be made in the form proposed.
Authority: Section 62 of the
Australian Crime Commission Act 2002