Fresh from its narrow re-election, the Turnbull Government has launched a new Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) to tackle cybercrime and other security threats.
The new commission is said to have been set up to leverage the strengths of two other law enforcement and criminal information agencies: CrimTrac and the Australian Crime Commission (ACCC).
“This new agency is critical to the future of Australia’s national security,” said Michael Keenan, minister assisting the PM on counter-terrorism. “Since September 12 2014, when the national terrorism threat level was raised, 44 people have been charged as a result of 16 counter-terrorism operations around Australia – that’s over half of all terrorism related charges since 2001.”
Keenan said launch of the ACIC will close information gaps between law enforcement agencies and link intelligence data to help identify organised crime operations that involve foreign fighters, terrorists, extremists and their supporters.
