Federal government commits $5m to financial crime partnerships with Pacific nations
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The news: The federal government has committed $5 million over the next two years to extend partnerships with Pacific nations to fight financial crime.
The context: The investment will support the Pacific Financial Intelligence Community, which is co-chaired by financial crime regulator AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas.
The network facilitates collaboration, intelligence sharing and joint responses to financial crime threats between regional financial intelligence units. Regional threats include drug trafficking, child sexual exploitation and environmental crime.
It will also support Project Taipan, AUSTRAC’s purpose-built financial intelligence system designed for Pacific financial intelligence units. The system was first rolled out in 2022.
AUSTRAC is also expanding training and mentoring for regional analysts and regulators.
What they said: “These crimes cause significant harm to Australian and Pacific communities and every dollar laundered helps them flourish,” Thomas said.
“AUSTRAC’s long-standing Pacific partnerships are aimed at helping the region better detect and disrupt illicit money flows linked to transnational organised crime.”
The source: AUSTRAC media release
