Before ParliamentCrime & Courts Introduced in the House of Representatives, 25 Mar 2026

Crime agency would get new secret powers

The national crime intelligence agency would get a new law. It would get new undercover operations and search warrants signed by a minister. It would also get a new way to approve its power to force people to answer questions. It touches anyone caught up in a crime gang investigation, and anyone who needs a police check.

Official name: Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission Bill 2026

Who it affects

• People linked to crime gangs: They could be searched, made to hand over papers and phone passwords, and questioned after swearing to tell the truth.
• Witnesses and ordinary people with useful facts: They could be called in and forced to answer, even if the answers might show they did a crime.
• Businesses: Staff could be ordered to help agents get into company computers during a search.
• People applying for gun licences or passes to secure areas: The agency would keep doing criminal background checks on them, some by computer.
• Police across Australia: They would keep sharing data through national systems, and help steer them through a new committee.
• Staff of the crime agency: Leaking agency records could mean up to 3 years in jail. Serious wrongdoing could get them sacked.

Organised crime costs $82.3 billion

The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission gathers facts about serious crime gangs. We call it the crime agency here. Its legal name is still the Australian Crime Commission, set up in 2003. In 2016 it also took over CrimTrac, which ran national police computer systems.

Gang crime is big business. The Australian Institute of Criminology, a government crime research body, says it cost $82.3 billion in 2023-24. The government says gangs now work across borders and online. They use secret codes to hide messages, and even hire out violence.

In 2023 the government ordered an independent review of the crime agency. Stephen Merchant and Greg Wilson led it. The review found the agency was held back by a muddled role, messy laws and shaky funding. It said the agency was not first-class at solving crimes, and not first-class at gathering facts either.

This bill is the government's answer. It writes a new main law for the crime agency. A separate bill keeps the fees for police checks. A later set of bills will change other laws to match.

A new job description

Parts 1 and 2 make the agency Australia's national crime fact-gathering agency. It would move away from solving crimes. It would focus on collecting and sharing secret facts about crime.

Its jobs would include gathering and studying facts about serious crime gangs, and sharing them with partners. It would give advice on crime trends. It would run national police computer systems and do national police checks. It would also check people's criminal links and help other agencies.

The bill says what serious gang crime means. It is a federal crime with a jail term of 2 years or more. It involves 2 or more offenders, real planning and clever methods. The crime can be past, present or future, so the agency can gather facts early.

A Director-General would lead the agency as its head. The Prime Minister would recommend the person after talking to the leader of the main party not in government. The Governor-General, the King's representative, would appoint them.

The Home Affairs Minister, who looks after borders and security, could give orders for the good of the public. But the minister could not tell the agency what its reports should find.

The agency's board would be scrapped. Its old jobs move to the minister and to new committees. The Director-General and the head of the Australian Federal Police would have to sign a deal. It would say how the federal police support the agency.

Forced answers to questions

Like a Royal Commission, the crime agency can force people to talk or hand things over. Examiners use these powers. They are independent senior officers with legal training.

Part 3 keeps these powers and changes how they are approved. First the minister signs off on a type of crime or a set of criminal targets. The minister only has to be sure it is for the good of the public. Then an examiner must be sure before ordering a person to come in or hand over papers.

Some acts are crimes. These are refusing to obey, lying, destroying papers or threatening people at a questioning session. Each can bring up to 5 years in jail, a fine of 300 penalty units ($99,000), or both.

People cannot refuse to answer just because the answer might show they did a crime. In most criminal cases, those answers cannot then be used against them in court.

Say a shipping clerk is thought to know how a gang moves drugs through a port. The agency could call them in. It could make them answer on oath and hand over records.

Undercover operations

Part 4 sets up a new kind of secret operation. In these, approved people can do things that would normally be crimes. They cannot be charged or sued for it.

The government's own example is an officer inside a gang that brings in drugs. They may need to help plan shipments or handle drugs to keep their cover.

The Director-General asks the Attorney-General to approve an operation. The Attorney-General is the minister in charge of the law. An operation can last up to 12 months. In urgent cases the Director-General can approve one for up to 7 days.

There are limits. The operation must not trick anyone into a crime they did not already plan. People in it must not put anyone in serious danger or cause death or serious injury. They must not commit a sex crime or cause major damage to property. Leaking details of an operation would be a crime.

Warrants signed by a minister

Part 5 lets the Attorney-General sign search warrants for places and for people, when the Director-General asks. A warrant is a signed legal order. Two committees of MPs and senators asked if a judge should have this power.

A warrant for a place lets agents go in, search, copy data from computers and take things away. It can let them search in secret. The Attorney-General must weigh up how serious the crime is and how much privacy is lost. They must also think about whether other ways would work.

A warrant for a person lets agents search someone and their things. It also covers any car they used in the last 24 hours. It can be used when a paper might otherwise be hidden or destroyed.

Strip searches and searches inside the body are not allowed. A pat-down search must be done by a police officer of the same gender where possible. Any use of force must be reported.

The Attorney-General can also order people to help unlock a device. For example, they may have to give a phone password or a fingerprint. Refusing can bring up to 5 years in jail, a fine of $99,000, or both.

Police checks and data

Part 6 keeps the national police computer systems. These let police across the country see each other's data. Each state or agency that adds data keeps control over it.

It also keeps national police checks. Employers, charities and licence bodies use these checks on people. They use them for jobs, volunteering and work with children. Approved groups keep asking for checks for the people applying.

A new committee would be set up for police data. It would include the crime agency, the Home Affairs department and every police force in Australia. It would set goals. It would advise the minister on spending and on the price of checks.

Gun and secure area checks

Part 7 keeps the agency's criminal background checks. AusCheck, the federal background check service, uses them. They help decide if someone can hold a gun licence or enter secure places.

Sometimes a search of the agency's records finds nothing on a person. Then a computer program can do the check. People can ask the Administrative Review Tribunal to look again at a check that goes against them. That body reviews government decisions. This right does not apply to gun checks.

Sharing and keeping intelligence

Part 8 lets the agency use the facts it gathers for all its jobs. It can share them with other agencies and some private groups. It also sets rules for keeping and giving back things it has taken.

Staff who misuse the agency's records face up to 3 years in jail. Other crimes cover misuse of protected material from questioning sessions.

Staff, oversight and review

Part 9 covers how the Director-General and examiners are picked and removed. The Director-General can hand many powers to staff. The Director-General can also say a worker was sacked for serious wrongdoing, such as corruption.

Part 10 sets up checks on the agency. The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security is the watchdog for spy agencies. It would keep watch on the crime agency. The yearly report must say how the powers were used. An independent person must review the law every 5 years.

Start date

Most of the bill would start on a date the government sets. At the latest, that is 18 months after it becomes law. The government says the agency needs time to get ready.

Tony Burke, the Home Affairs Minister, brought it to the House of Representatives on 25 March 2026. That is the house of Parliament where the government is formed. He opened the debate on its main idea that day.

It was sent to the group of MPs and senators who check security laws, for a closer look. People could send in written comments until 5 June 2026. The House and then the Senate still have to pass it.

Its journey through Parliament

Official sources

• Bill page on aph.gov.au
• Text of the bill
• Explanatory memorandum
• Bills Digest

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