How the taskforce operates

About the Serious Financial Crime Taskforce

The Serious Financial Crime Taskforce (SFCT) is an ATO-led joint-agency taskforce established on 1 July 2015. It brings together the knowledge, resources and experience of law enforcement and regulatory agencies to identify and address the most serious and complex forms of financial crime.

The SFCT includes:

• Attorney-General's DepartmentOpens in a new window (AGD)
• Australian Border ForceOpens in a new window (ABF)
• Australian Criminal Intelligence CommissionOpens in a new window (ACIC)
• Australian Federal PoliceOpens in a new window (AFP)
• Australian Securities and Investments CommissionOpens in a new window (ASIC)
• Australian Tax Office (ATO)
• Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis CentreOpens in a new window (AUSTRAC)
• Commonwealth Director of Public ProsecutionsOpens in a new window (CDPP)
• Department of Home AffairsOpens in a new window (Home Affairs)
• Services AustraliaOpens in a new window.

 

Serious financial crime

Each year, serious financial crime costs the Australian community millions of dollars in lost revenue. With the support of partner agencies, we are committed to preventing, detecting and dealing with this kind of criminal activity through the SFCT.

Rapidly evolving technology provides a platform for criminals to become more active, finding new ways to target vulnerable people. The SFCT investigates the most serious offenders of these crimes, and brings them to account.

The current focus of the SFCT is on:

• professional enablers
• technology enabled crime
• value flows between connected criminal syndicates.

In July 2023, the Government provided $223.8 million to the ATO over 4 years to extend the SFCT through to 30 June 2027 and merge the SFCT with the Serious Organised Crime program. This maximises the disruption of organised crime groups that seek to undermine the integrity of Australia's public finances.

Continued funding allows us to leverage the capabilities and powers of Commonwealth law enforcement and regulatory agencies. It also enables the SFCT to keep sharing our collective knowledge, resources and experience to target the most serious and complex forms of financial crime that present the highest risk to Australia's tax and superannuation systems.

The SFCT also supports Australia’s involvement as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement (J5). This allows us to work together globally with leaders of tax enforcement authorities from Canada, UK, USA and the Netherlands to further disrupt international tax crime and money laundering.

As a member of the SFCT, we are equipped with the resources, data-matching capability and international and domestic intelligence-sharing relationships to uncover even the most intricately-planned serious financial crimes.

Serious Financial Crime Taskforce – making a difference

Watch our video to learn more about the SFCT, and the difference it is making to address serious financial crime.