On behalf of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, I present the committee's advisory report on the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission reform package 2026.

Report made a parliamentary paper in accordance with standing order 39(e).

by leave—I rise today to present a report on behalf of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security for its review of the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission reform package 2026. The reform package consists of two bills: the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission Bill 2026 and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (National Policing Information Charges) Bill 2026. The bills were referred to the committee by the Minister for Home Affairs on 25 March and 26 March 2026 respectively. The committee received 10 submissions and held one public hearing with relevant government agencies, oversight bodies and the Law Council of Australia.

Serious and organised crime causes significant harm to the Australian community. This harm manifests itself in many ways, including private financial losses, fraud in government programs, loss of taxation revenue, environmental damage, trafficking of illegal drugs, child exploitation, serious violence and even deaths. By one estimate, serious and organised crime cost the community more than $82 billion in the 2023-24 financial year—more than Australia's entire defence budget for that year.

The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, or ACIC, is an important contributor to Australia's fight against serious and organised crime. Through its unique capabilities and partnerships, the ACIC collects intelligence relating to serious and organised criminal activities and communicates it to its relevant partners. The origins of the proposed reforms are in an independent review of the ACIC completed by Mr Stephen Merchant and Mr Greg Wilson in 2024. The independent review found that, while there are significant benefits in Australia having a specialised and highly skilled national criminal intelligence organisation supporting the disruption work of law enforcement agencies, the ACIC is inhibited from fulfilling this intelligence mandate by a lack of clarity about its role, complicated legislative frameworks and uncertainty about its funding. The independent review set out a blueprint for reforms to the ACIC's legal framework, which the current reform package seeks to implement.

The committee considers it essential that these reforms are successful in clarifying the ACIC's role as a criminal intelligence agency and making its legislative settings fit for purpose. The committee has supported the passage of the two bills, subject to 25 recommendations aimed at improving legislative clarity, accountability, oversight mechanisms and other safeguards while ensuring a smooth transition to the new legal framework. Many of the committee's recommendations relate to the extraordinary intelligence-gathering powers included in the ACIC Bill, most of which are carried over from the ACIC's existing legal framework but some of which are new or substantially amended. These powers have significant implications for human rights, and, while the committee accepted that it is necessary for the ACIC to have those powers, they must be accompanied by adequate safeguards. The committee has also recommended that the government establish a clear and comprehensive transition plan, setting out which agencies will perform any functions that will no longer be performed by the ACIC and how those functions will be funded.

Together, the committee's recommendations will help ensure that the public can have confidence that the reform package provides the right legislative settings for the ACIC's long-term future and that the ACIC's extraordinary powers will only be used as intended to help keep Australians safe from serious and organised crime. The committee also recognised that the ACIC reform package is not yet complete. The government has indicated that a package of consequential amendments will be introduced to ensure the proper functioning of the re-established ACIC and its oversight framework. Therefore, while the committee supports the passage of these two bills, it does so on the understanding that necessary consequential amendments will be introduced and subject to appropriate parliamentary scrutiny prior to their commencement.

I thank the chair, Senator Raff Ciccone; the deputy chair, the member for Fisher; other committee members; and all those who contributed to the inquiry through submissions and evidence at the public hearing. I also say thank you to our very hardworking secretariat. I commend this report to the House.