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New South Wales Crime Commission

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New South Wales Crime Commission
Common nameNSW Crime Commission
AbbreviationNSWCC
Agency overview
FormedJanuary 20, 1986
Preceding agency
  • State Drug Crime Commission
Employees150
Annual budget$16,000,000
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdictionNew South Wales, Australia
Constituting instrument
  • New South Wales Crime Commission Act 1985
Operational structure
Headquarters453 - 463 Kent Street, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Minister responsible
Agency executive
  • Phillip Bradley, Commissioner
Units
2
  • Investigations
  • Confiscation
Notables
Person
  • Peter Singleton, Assistant Commissioner, for Assistant Commissioner
Website
http://www.crimecommission.nsw.gov.au

The New South Wales Crime Commission is an Australian statutory corporation with the main objectives of reducing the occurrence of illegal drug trafficking and organised crime in New South Wales. In more recent years, the Commission has also taken on a charter of assisting with the investigation of terrorism related offences.

History

The Commission was established pursuant to the New South Wales Crime Commission Act of 1985. This Act of Parliament was initially assented to as the State Drug Crime Commission Act and introduced by the NSW Premier, the Honourable Neville Wran[1] after a period of seminal Royal Commissions, including the Woodward Royal Commission (1977–1979) and the Costigan Royal Commission (1980–1984) into drug trafficking, organised crime and tax evasion.

The first Chairman of the State Drug Crime Commission (SDCC) was Judge John Lloyd-Jones. He lasted only four weeks after significant protests by the legal fraternity who were opposed to a judicial officer presiding over an investigative body. Richard Job, QC replaced Lloyd-Jones as Chairman, and the SDCC sat as a management committee, led by Job together with Barry Thorley, a former judge, and Vice-Admiral (retired), David Leach.[1]

Phillip Bradley was appointed Commissioner in 1989 and became Chairman of the Commission in 1983.[1] In the period leading up to the 2011 state election, the Commission attracted significant public criticism over its practices.[1] In February 2011, Bradley launched legal action against the Police Integrity Commission (PIC) after it was revealed that the PIC planned to hold a public inquiry into the NSWCC. The nature of the investigations conducted by the PIC relate to the way the NSW Crime Commission managed its assets confiscation powers. PIC investigations revealed that the Commission and lawyers acting for alleged and convicted criminals negiotiated legal costs, sometimes in an an extremely short timeframe.[2] To defend its position, the Commission took the matter to the Supreme Court,[3] The controversy expanded as the Commission was accused of undermining free speech by demanding records and phones from Fairfax journalists.[4][5] With the matter still before the Court, on 6 May 2011 the New South Wales Government extended the employment contract of Bradley for a further six months.[6][7] On 17 May 2011, The Court dismissed the Commission's application giving the go ahead to the Police Integrity Commission conudcting a public inquiry into whether the Crime Commission acted outside the laws that govern the confiscation of criminal proceeds, and whether it has abused some of the processes of the court.[6][6][6]

Governance

The Board of the New South Wales Crime Commission consists of:[8]

Operations

The New South Wales Crime Commission works closely with the NSW Police Force.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Besser, Linton; Welch, Dylan (12 February 2011). "The commission that is a law unto itself". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
  2. ^ Besser, Linton (14 February 2011). "Seized criminal assets go on legal costs". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  3. ^ Jacobsen, Geesche (23 February 2011). "Anti-crime bodies at war over inquiry". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  4. ^ "NSW Crime Commission demands Fairfax phones". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 18 February 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  5. ^ "Protection for journalists" (transcript). Media Watch. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 11 April 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  6. ^ a b c d Welch, Dylan; Besser, Linton (6 May 2011). "Six more months for secret crime body's boss". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 18 May 2011. Cite error: The named reference "SMH-2011-05-06" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  7. ^ "NSW Crime Commission boss to step down". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 6 May 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference SMH-2011-01-11 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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