Australian Case Study 1: The Australian Crime Commission (ACC)

Abstract

Chapter 6 begins the analysis of the Australian national jurisdiction, presenting the first of two Australian case studies — the Australian Crime Commission’s (ACC) application of strategic intelligence within the context of transnational organized crime (TOC). Findings are based on multi-stage qualitative analysis (using content and discourse analysis techniques) of ACC corporate documents and reports, as well as data derived from a series of semi-structured interviews with key informants within the ACC. Comparing and contrasting the ACC’s application of strategic TOC intelligence with contemporary academic theories and the two international case studies, the chapter reveals that while there are significant differences between the ACC’s strategic intelligence model and that of CISC and SOCA the three organizations share a number of organizational, cultural, methodological and theoretical factors that inhibit the effectiveness of strategic intelligence.