New legislation being introduced to the NSW Parliament today is set to strengthen the powers of Police and the NSW Crime Commission to investigate organised crime, access critical evidence and disrupt criminal networks.
Premier, Chris Minns said the reforms respond to the changing nature of organised crime, with criminal syndicates increasingly outsourcing violence, relying on encrypted technology, exploiting the illicit tobacco market, recruiting children to carry out offending and using layers of associates to distance themselves from the crimes they orchestrate.
“Organised crime has changed, and our laws need to change with it. Criminal syndicates are exploiting encrypted technology, the dark web and layers of intermediaries to distance themselves from the violence they commission,” said Mr Minns.
“Often, the people directing serious offences are nowhere near the crime scene. They’re recruiting others to steal cars, source weapons or carry out shootings while they hide in the background. We are making it harder for those criminals to operate.
“We’re giving police stronger powers to access critical evidence stored on encrypted devices that have been lawfully seized, ensuring technology can’t be used to shield organised criminals from justice.”
The new legislation includes the following provisions to strengthen Police investigations:
Digital Evidence Access Orders
In an Australian-first, a new Digital Evidence Access Order will allow police to compel an individual to supply access information for digital devices suspected to be associated with organised crime.
Currently, a device can only be ordered to be unlocked if it is seized as part of a Search or Crime Scene warrant. This significantly limits the circumstances in which police can access devices.
The new Bill extends these orders for prescribed serious offences linked to organised crime, including drug supply, the illicit tobacco trade, fire-bombings and public place shootings.
The Bill also increases the maximum penalty for non-compliance from five to seven years.
Access to unredacted images captured by toll cameras on public toll roads
It will also enable police investigating suspected serious indictable offences, or responding to missing person cases, to access unredacted images captured by toll cameras on public toll roads.
If the Bill passes Parliament, the Government will commence preparations for a staged implementation of these reforms, beginning with cameras on the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Harbour Tunnel.
The changes are targeted and will not affect law-abiding motorists, with access to unredacted toll camera images only available for investigations into suspected serious indictable offences or missing person reports.
Doubling penalties for obstructing Crime Commission investigations
The legislation will also strengthen the powers of the NSW Crime Commission by doubling the maximum penalties for failing to comply with Commission orders – including refusing to answer questions, providing false or misleading evidence, or obstructing investigations – to up to 10 years imprisonment, while streamlining contempt processes.
NSW to participate in the Commonwealth face-matching service
The Bill will enable NSW to participate in the Commonwealth’s national Face Matching Services to help prevent stolen identity documents being used for organised crime purposes, including being sold on the dark web.
NSW will join Western Australia and South Australia, which are already connected to the National Driver Licence Facial Recognition Solution, strengthening the national effort to combat identity crime.
This works by allowing Transport for NSW to securely share driver licence and photo card images through the National Driver Licence Facial Recognition Solution, in accordance with Commonwealth identity verification laws.
If a person’s driver licence, Medicare details or other identity information are exposed in a data breach and obtained by organised criminals, the Face Matching Service can help prevent those documents being used to create fraudulent identities.
For example, where a criminal attempts to use stolen identity documents to open a bank account, facial verification can identify that the person presenting the documents does not match the legitimate owner, preventing the fraud attempt.
“The operating model of organised crime is evolving and we’re ensuring police have the powers they need to stay ahead of threats,” said Minister for Police and Counter-terrorism, Yasmin Catley.
“Criminals are increasingly facilitating and coordinating their crimes online, thinking they can distance themselves from the law. This couldn’t be further from the truth: the NSW Government is giving police every tool to come after them hard.
“We’ve listened to NSW Police, we’ve listened to the NSW Crime Commission and this is what they’ve told us they need to disrupt and dismantle criminal networks and keep our streets safe.
“We will continue to be informed by law enforcement and support them with the tools, laws and budget necessary to continue targeting serious and organised crime.”
Attorney General Michael Daley said the new Bill consists of innovative measures that will give investigators strong and effective powers to combat the threats posed by new technologies that can be exploited by criminals.
“Our Government’s message is clear: If you try to block the Crime Commission’s work in disrupting and reducing organised crime, you will face significant penalties. If you engage in or facilitate organised crime in this State, you can expect to be caught and prosecuted,” he said.
