The basic motivation behind most crime is to make money. If criminals want to use that money it needs to appear to have come from legitimate sources—they need to ‘clean’ or ‘launder’ it.
There is no single method of laundering money.
Money launderers have shown themselves to be imaginative, creating new schemes to get around the counter-measures designed to identify and stop them.
Criminals may use the following strategies to launder money:
> breaking up large amounts of cash and depositing it into bank accounts, or buying money orders or cheques and depositing them into other accounts in an effort to place money in the financial system without arousing suspicion
> moving money around to create complex money trails, making it difficult to identify its original source—usually through a series of quick transactions, or through businesses in other countries
> integrating money within the financial system for end use so it appears as legitimate funds or assets, and can include buying real estate and luxury assets, or investing in businesses
> using a number of people to carry out small transactions or smuggle cash into or out of the country
> using online gambling platforms, placing illegal proceeds of crime into gaming machines or purchasing casino chips and cashing them out shortly afterwards.

Money launderers have traditionally used banks and financial institutions to hide their illegal profits.
However, criminals are also attracted to other sectors that use or receive significant amounts of cash, have variable compliance with controls and regulations, or where there is lower risk of detection, such as casinos, alternative remittance and foreign exchange services.
Other money laundering methods involve employing professional facilitators who use their expertise to work around the regulations and controls in the
Australian financial sector.
The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis
Centre (AUSTRAC) identified four key features of money laundering in Australia:
> intermingling legitimate and illicit financial activity—for example through cash intensive businesses or front companies
> engaging professional expertise (also known as professional facilitators)—such as lawyers and accountants
> engaging specialist money laundering syndicates— to provide specific money laundering services to domestic and international crime groups
> ‘internationalisation’ of the Australian crime environment—there is almost always an international component in money laundering for
Australian crime groups.
1
Australia’s anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing (AML/CTF) regime enables
AUSTRAC to collect financial transaction reports from regulated entities, including the financial and gambling sectors. These reports greatly help authorities to identify and analyse money laundering activities and methods. The reporting contributes to investigative and law enforcement work to combat financial crime and prosecute criminals in Australia and overseas.
AUSTRAC oversees compliance by regulated entities with Australia’s AML/CTF regime. AUSTRAC educates, monitors and works with entities to improve their compliance with AML/CTF obligations, including transaction reporting obligations, and to reduce their risk of being misused for money laundering and terrorism financing.

Money laundering is a key risk to Australia—it is the common element in almost all serious and organised crime. Money laundering enables criminals to hide and accumulate wealth, avoid prosecution, evade taxes, increase profits through re-investment and fund further criminal activity.
Recent estimates suggest that the level of money laundered in and through Australia is at least $10 billion a year.
2 However, the full cost of money laundering to the Australian community is likely to be much higher when lost tax revenues and the full scope of unreported proceeds of crime is taken into account.
Money laundering has many social, economic and policy ramifications. The Australian Crime Commission and AUSTRAC have a major focus on money laundering as it is often by-product of other criminal activity.
Money laundering can harm the Australian community in many ways, including:
> ‘crowding out’ legitimate businesses in the marketplace when money laundering front businesses subsidise products and services at levels well below market rates
> affecting the reputation and integrity of financial institutions where they become involved, usually without knowing, with the proceeds of illegal activity
> corrupting individuals and undermining checks and controls within institutions and businesses used to channel laundered funds
> assisting in the financing of terrorism
> financing and providing motivation for further criminal activities.

Serious and organised crime is not only a threat to civil law and order and community safety; it is a threat to
Australia’s national security.
On 23 January 2013 the Australian Government launched Australia’s first national security strategy,
Strong and Secure: A Strategy for Australia’s National
Security, which provides an overarching framework to guide Australia’s security efforts over the next five years. The strategy recognises that preventing, detecting and disrupting serious and organised crime is one of the eight key pillars to securing the Nation and its citizens.
Organised crime has evolved well beyond a simple law and order problem within the remit of an individual agency, jurisdiction or country. The social, economic, systemic, environmental, physical and psychological harms caused by serious and organised crime have a very real impact on the whole community.
The Commonwealth Organised Crime Strategic
Framework (OCSF) and the National Organised Crime
Response Plan (OCRP) strengthen multijurisdictional approaches, coordination, information sharing and joint activities to combat the national threat of serious and organised crime.
Further information on the national security strategy can be found at <http://www.pm.gov.au/press-office/ strategy-australias-national-security>.
Further information on the OCSF and OCRP can be found at <http://www.ag.gov.au/CrimeAndCorruption/
OrganisedCrime/Pages/default.aspx>.
Australia’s response to the threat of organised crime is multi-faceted and ever-evolving. As the picture of criminality in Australia continues to develop and transform over time, Australia’s response strategies will also adjust and develop to meet new challenges and opportunities in the fight against organised crime. the Australian Crime Commission conservatively estimates that serious and organised crime costs Australia $15 billion every year. This cost comprises loss of business and taxation revenues, expenditure on law enforcement and regulatory efforts, and social and community impacts of crime.
Raising public awareness of crime issues is an important step in minimising the impact serious and organised crime can have on the community.
1 Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC)
2011, Money laundering in Australia 2011, viewed on 16 June
2012 < http://www.austrac.gov.au/files/money_laundering_ in_australia_2011.pdf>.
2 Australian Crime Commission, 2011, Organised Crime in
Australia 2011, <http://www.crimecommission.gov.au/ publications/organised-crime-australia/organised-crimeaustralia-2011-report>.
To read more ACC crime profiles visit www.crimecommission.gov.au.
© Commonwealth of Australia, July 2013.