Opening Address to the Australian Government Fraud Liaison Forum
Deputy Commissioner John Lawler APM
Wednesday 23 March 2005
Australian War Memorial
Introduction
Good morning and thank you for the invitation to open the first Australian Government Fraud Liaison Forum for 2005.
This forum provides a unique opportunity for those of us working in the field of fraud prevention, detection and investigation, to share experiences, knowledge and future trends.
Whilst this forum is primarily targeted at Commonwealth Government agencies, I note that several of the key presenters today are from private industry, a clear indication of the partnership model we have been advocating now for several years is reaping rewards. I also note that there are some 40 government agencies represented here today in total and that in itself is an achievement in encouraging the 'whole of government' approach to fraud control.
The changing nature of the law enforcement environment will no doubt see the involvement of other State agencies, police services and private industry representatives at future forums, which is a very positive step.
We are all too aware of the rapidly changing face of economic crime. As technology advances so too does the ability of organised crime to exploit financial systems, whether to fund drug importations, terrorism or the insidious trade in sexual servitude or, quite simply, theft.
I am pleased to note that this forum has been able to incorporate a mix of identity fraud presentations and technological developments in this field, as well as presentations on High Tech crime and AFP best practice in Documentary Evidence Handling. These are significant topics from a law enforcement perspective, as we have seen a steady growth in internet-based crime and more recent evidence of a surge in identity-based crime.
Both of these trends also affect work in a number of core AFP functions including counter terrorism, our regional policing engagement strategy, our International network of liaison officers and of course our economic portfolio as well as within the AFP-hosted Australian High Tech Crime Centre.
The inclusion of best practice presentations also allows the forum to share opinions and frameworks in our efforts to continually improve our services to all clients and strategic partners.
The Operational Environment
Increasingly, we are seeing evidence of terrorists attempting to mask their fund-raising activities through legitimate business enterprises and engaging in crimes such as identity theft to help plan, finance and execute their offences and avoid detection.
Identity crime played a key role in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks; the 19 hijackers were found to have used 364 false names.
Investigations into the Bali bombings revealed that conspirators operated bank accounts under false names, rented the house where the planning was completed, regularly used aliases to avoid detection and shipped bomb-making materials using false identities and identification documents.
A 2003 study conducted by the Securities Industry Research Centre of the Asia-Pacific (SIRCA) on behalf of AUSTRAC concluded that the cost of identity crime to Australia was in the order of $1.1 billion per year. Other estimates have put the costs as high as $4 billion a year.
And the Aberdeen Advisory Group has estimated that the global cost of identity crime by December this year would be $2 trillion.
Our own AFP investigations have revealed the sale of complete identity packages, including driver's licences, Medicare cards, passports and birth certificates.
Advances in desktop publishing, which have significantly increased the capacity of criminals to fraudulently manufacture proof of identity documents, and the easy commercial availability of card making equipment capable of producing plastic cards at a rate of 500 per day, increases the challenge of fraud detection and prevention.
To help combat this, the AFP hosts and leads a NSW-based special operational taskforce, the Identity Crime Task Force, comprising 15 Federal and State agencies, which exclusively investigate identity-related crimes.
The taskforce, which assists in our whole of government response to this type of crime, is also working closely with other Government and industry groups to investigate solutions to identity security issues.
One of these groups includes the Opal group which was established a year ago to coordinate and consolidate efforts by the agencies which either issue identity documents, such as passports and Medicare Cards, or are impacted on in some way by identity fraud.
It is important to remember that identity fraud is often not a crime of itself, but a facilitative illegal act in furtherance of other crime types such as drug smuggling, economic crime, terrorism and the list could go on.
I think that it is important in these fora that we not only understand the nature of our business and the increasingly blurred distinctions between these crime types, but that we continually share trend identification, and best practice methodologies to keep pace with this dynamic environment.
Conclusion
Government and commercial collaboration in terms of intelligence exchange and information sharing will be essential in minimising opportunities for criminals to commit fraud including stealing or creating identities.
The Fraud Liaison Forum provides that platform, not just for the themes of the day, but also for economic security in general.
We see these collaborative arrangements as integral to future directions in policing and law enforcement, where the stakes will remain high and criminals will become even more sophisticated.
I would finally like to thank the Australian War Memorial for providing today's venue along with our forum organisers and sponsors.
Thank you