Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian Crime Commission Inquiry into the legislative arrangements to outlaw serious and organised crime groups August 2009 © Commonwealth of Australia ISBN 978-1-74229-163-5 This document was prepared by the Secretariat of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian Crime Commission and printed by the Senate Printing Unit, Parliament House, Canberra The Committee Members: Senator Steve Hutchins (Chair) Senator Sue Boyce (Deputy Chair) (from 23 February 2009) Mr Jason Wood MP (Deputy Chair) (to 23 February 2009) Senator Stephen Parry Senator Helen Polley Senator Steve Fielding Senator Guy Barnett (to 11 February 2009) Mr Nicholas Champion MP Mr Stephen Gibbons MP Mr Christopher Hayes MP The Hon. Sussan Ley MP Secretariat Dr Jacqueline Dewar, Secretary Dr Robyn Clough, Principal Research Officer Mrs Nina Boughey, Senior Research Officer Mrs Danielle Oldfield, Executive Assistant Parliament House CANBERRA Telephone: (02) 6277 3419 Facsimile: (02) 6277 5866 Email: [email protected] Internet: www.aph.gov.au/senate_acc iii iv Table of Contents The Committee .................................................................................................. iii Acronyms and abbreviations list ...................................................................... ix Chapter 1 ............................................................................................................. 1 The conduct of the inquiry ....................................................................................... 1 Terms of Reference ................................................................................................ 1 Background to the inquiry ...................................................................................... 2 Conduct of the inquiry ............................................................................................ 3 Structure of the report ............................................................................................. 3 Terminology ........................................................................................................... 4 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................ 4 Chapter 2 ............................................................................................................. 7 Overview of serious and organised crime in Australia ......................................... 7 Organised crime in Australia: a snapshot ............................................................... 7 Responding to serious and organised crime ......................................................... 15 Outlaw motorcycle gangs (OMCGS): a growing concern? ................................. 22 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 32 Chapter 3 ........................................................................................................... 35 Existing legislative approaches to combating organised crime in Australia .... 35 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 35 Types of legislation .............................................................................................. 35 Commonwealth ..................................................................................................... 36 New South Wales ................................................................................................. 41 Victoria ................................................................................................................. 44 Queensland ........................................................................................................... 45 v Western Australia ................................................................................................. 46 South Australia ..................................................................................................... 47 Tasmania ............................................................................................................... 48 Australian Capital Territory ................................................................................. 49 Northern Territory ................................................................................................ 50 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 51 Chapter 4 ........................................................................................................... 53 Legislation targeting participation in an organised crime group ...................... 53 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 53 Association and consorting offences .................................................................... 55 Civil orders ........................................................................................................... 62 Organised crime offences ..................................................................................... 63 Examples of specific legislative approaches ........................................................ 64 United States of America ...................................................................................... 64 Canada .................................................................................................................. 68 New Zealand ......................................................................................................... 74 United Kingdom ................................................................................................... 75 Asian examples ..................................................................................................... 78 South Australia ..................................................................................................... 79 Other states' responses to South Australian laws ................................................. 89 Conclusions .......................................................................................................... 93 Chapter 5 ........................................................................................................... 97 Confiscating the Proceeds of Crime ...................................................................... 97 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 97 Confiscation of criminal assets ............................................................................. 97 Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (Commonwealth) ................................................... 99 Unexplained wealth provisions .......................................................................... 101 vi Measures supporting criminal assets confiscation ............................................. 118 Conclusions ........................................................................................................ 127 Chapter 6 ......................................................................................................... 129 A holistic and harmonised approach to serious and organised crime ............. 129 A coordinated approach to serious and organised crime .................................... 130 Information and intelligence sharing .................................................................. 141 International partnerships ................................................................................... 150 A supportive suite of law enforcement capabilities ........................................... 153 Resources ............................................................................................................ 156 Concluding remarks ............................................................................................ 157 Additional comments by the Liberal and Family First members of the committee ......................................................................................................... 161 APPENDIX 1 ................................................................................................... 163 List of public submissions .................................................................................... 163 Appendix 2 ....................................................................................................... 165 Public hearings and witnesses ............................................................................. 165 Appendix 3 ....................................................................................................... 171 Answers to questions on notice and additional information ............................ 171 Appendix 4 ....................................................................................................... 173 Appendix 5 ....................................................................................................... 177 Appendix 6 ....................................................................................................... 179 Appendix 7 ....................................................................................................... 181 Appendix 8 ....................................................................................................... 187 vii Appendix 9 ......................................................................................................