News

On 15th June 2016 at the National Policing Summit in Sydney The Hon Michael Keenan MP announced the AFP would receive $1.6 million in new big data capability, and the ACC would receive $1 million for technology to enable the real-time, secure transfer of intelligence between surveillance teams in the field during investigations.

Big Data

Big data used in a law enforcement context provides a substantial mechanism to revealing threats and unlocking criminal plans hidden within data-rich environments such as social media or news reporting.

The Coalition Government is funding this technology so our law enforcement agencies can engage the latest tools to overlay big data information with existing intelligence.

Big data is already being used by the FBI, and is vital in today’s threat environment – where terrorists exploit the online environment to radicalise individuals, direct attacks and detail movements.
Open source social media provides a large data set – subsequently providing linkages and other in depth intelligence on terrorist groups from their members.

The sheer volume of associated data from the IS online onslaught has created a windfall of intelligence, and gives tremendous insight into terrorist organisations and also insight into operational activity from geo-location, to unintentionally leaked plans or photos.

Real-time Surveillance

Physical and technical surveillance used by the ACC to covertly observe, accurately identify, and record the movement, activities and communication among Australia’s highest risk criminal targets is vital.

Physical surveillance is one of the critical capabilities that supports the agency’s investigative and intelligence functions.

The new real-time capability will enhance safety, situational awareness and the timeliness and accuracy of decisions and actions in the field.

Further it will boost collaboration between Australia’s law enforcement agencies during surveillance operations.

The national security challenges Australia faces are evolving and so we must keep our legislation and capabilities under constant review to meet emerging challenges.

We cannot eliminate entirely the risk of terrorism any more than we can eliminate the risk of any serious crime. But we can mitigate it – and this is another weapon in our intelligence arsenal to keep Australians safe.

We will continue to invest in our agencies to ensure they have the powers and the tools they need to thwart and frustrate many attacks before they occur.

Funding will be provided through the Proceeds of Crime Account – money taken from criminals and returned to the agencies that fight crime and protect Australia.