Review of Victorian Criminal Organisation Laws – Stage One Under section 137 of the Criminal Organisations Control Act 2012 30 June 2020 Review of Victorian Criminal Organisation Laws Foreword Over the past decade, most States and Territories in Australia experimented with a new method of seeking to prevent and disrupt organised crime, which was expanding its reach into more and more legitimate activities. They did so by employing a scheme of declarations and control orders and unlawful association notices. Although couched in broad terms, these legislative initiatives were primarily prompted by the increasingly visible criminal activity of outlaw motorcycle gangs (OMCGs). Most, if not all, of these control statutes contained review provisions to determine if they were having their desired effect. Victoria’s Criminal Organisations Control Act 2012 (COCA) requires a review to be concluded by 30 June 2020. Many of the other reviews have been completed and we have benefited from the work which they have done. When we commenced this task, it was anticipated that we would consult with a wide range of stakeholders generally and conduct discussion roundtables with those whose work is central to disrupting organised crime, as well as those who engage with it more peripherally such as the regulators of certain industries and those who focus on the protection of human rights. However, the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic has precluded that interactive program of work and, accordingly, the Attorney-General has requested that we undertake the review in two stages. The first, to which this report relates, acquits the review obligations of the COCA. The second, which we will undertake when the impacts of the pandemic have eased, will consider other legislation in Victoria which tackles organised crime, and will make recommendations for future initiatives. Carrying out this review distantly has had its challenges but has been made as efficient as is possible without face-to-face meetings by the talented team of officers from the Department of Justice and Community Safety assigned to this review and who have compiled material, prepared programs of work, written research papers and assisted in drafting this report. We express our appreciation to each of them. In this difficult situation, when there are other demands on time and resources, we are grateful for the assistance of the Crime Statistics Agency’s Chief Statistician and of Victoria Police, with whom we have had two remote meetings. The latter, of course, has a central interest in this review and has offered all the assistance for which we asked and to those officers involved we give our thanks. Finally, we thank the Attorney-General for her willingness to accept that this review required a two-stage process if it were to achieve more than a bare analysis of the effectiveness or otherwise of the COCA. Hon. Margaret White AO Andrew Cappie-Wood Review Panellist Review Panellist Page 2 of 47 Review of Victorian Criminal Organisation Laws Table of Contents Foreword ...................................................................................................................................................................... 2 Executive summary .................................................................................................................................................... 5 Glossary ....................................................................................................................................................................... 8 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................... 10 1.1 Purpose of the review ....................................................................................................................................... 10 1.2 Terms of reference ........................................................................................................................................... 10 1.3 Method and scope of the review ...................................................................................................................... 10 1.4 Review Panel .................................................................................................................................................... 11 2. The Victorian statutory framework ............................................................................................................... 12 2.1 Declaration and control order scheme ............................................................................................................. 12 2.2 Unlawful association scheme ........................................................................................................................... 14 2.3 The human rights Charter and its relevance to the COCA ............................................................................... 16 3. Organised crime landscape........................................................................................................................... 17 3.1 Definition of organised crime ............................................................................................................................ 17 3.2 Prevalence of organised crime in Australia ...................................................................................................... 17 3.3 Evolution of organised crime groups ................................................................................................................ 18 3.4 Disruption as a tactic to fight organised crime.................................................................................................. 19 4. Australian control order schemes ................................................................................................................ 20 4.1 OMCG-related crimes – a catalyst for change ................................................................................................. 20 4.2 States and Territories consider a national approach ........................................................................................ 21 4.3 Legal challenges to declaration and control order legislation .......................................................................... 23 4.4 Reviews of criminal organisation control laws .................................................................................................. 24 5. Australian unlawful association schemes ................................................................................................... 26 5.1 Reviews of unlawful association laws .............................................................................................................. 27 6. The COCA’s policy objectives ...................................................................................................................... 29 6.1 Preventing and disrupting organised crime ...................................................................................................... 29 6.2 Preventing organised crime through declarations and control orders .............................................................. 30 6.2.1 Recognising declarations and control orders made in other jurisdictions ........................................................ 31 6.3 Preventing individuals from associating with serious criminals ........................................................................ 32 7. Evaluating the COCA’s operation and effectiveness ................................................................................. 34 7.1 Declarations and control orders ....................................................................................................................... 34 7.2 Unlawful association notices ............................................................................................................................ 35 7.3 Conclusion on the COCA's operation and effectiveness.................................................................................. 36 Page 3 of 47 Review of Victorian Criminal Organisation Laws 8. Recommendations ......................................................................................................................................... 37 9. Next steps ....................................................................................................................................................... 38 Appendix: Overview of substantive amendments to the COCA .......................................................................... 39 Bibliography .............................................................................................................................................................. 41 Page 4 of 47 Review of Victorian Criminal Organisation Laws Executive summary The Criminal Organisations Control Act 2012 (COCA) is one of several pieces of Victorian legislation targeting organised crime. It was first proposed in 2011, following a spate of widely- reported public displays of violence linked to outlaw motorcycle gangs (OMCGs). The COCA The COCA commenced on 13 March 2013 and was amended in 20151 to add an unlawful association scheme. The Act: • enables the Supreme Court to make declarations and control orders to prevent and disrupt organisations and their members involved in serious crime • empowers police to prohibit association with those convicted of serious crime, and • provides for the recognition of interstate declarations