34th Session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice
Statement by H.E. Ambassador Ian Biggs, Australia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations and International Organisations in Vienna
19 May 2025
Chair,
Australia remains steadfast in our commitment to fight all forms of crime and we take this opportunity to congratulate Mexico as Chair of this session. Australia strongly supports the Commission’s common interest in and its commitment to collective activism on global challenges. Australia has always pursued a world where our challenges, differences and disputes are settled through institutions, agreed rules and norms.
We continue to condemn breaches of those rules and norms, in particular the flagrant violation of the UN Charter represented by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russia’s actions have undermined the multilateral system and the international cooperation required to combat transnational crime, and undermine the efforts of this Commission.
Chair,
Since the 33rd session of the Commission, Australia has progressed landmark reforms to tackle money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation financing. In November 2024, the Australian Parliament passed laws to strengthen our Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing regime, targeting serious and organised criminal groups’ illicit profits, which will get to the core of why they conduct their illegal activities. We are pleased to see this issue being addressed across resolutions at this session.
Chair,
International partnerships remain integral to Australia’s crime prevention endeavors. In August 2024 the Australian Government announced a commitment of approximately $400 million to support the Pacific Policing Initiative, which will boost the capability of Pacific nations to meet law and order and internal security requirements, and to support each other in times of need.
Chair,
We must continue to ensure that impartial, accessible and transparent justice systems are at the centre of our efforts. Last year, the Australian Government and Australian state and territory governments agreed the terms of the $3.9 billion National Access to Justice Partnership. This initiative focuses on improving access to justice outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, who are overrepresented within the criminal justice system. This is the Australian Government’s largest injection of funding to the legal assistance sector in 20 years.
Chair,
To highlight the significant impact on national and global security from online scam operations in Southeast Asia, Australia is hosting a side-event on 21 May with the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime. It will focus on the latest scam and fraud trends and how they converge with different types of organised crimes such as human trafficking. Recommendations will be provided on how to strengthen the current international response. To that end, Australia has introduced a Scams Prevention Framework, establishing a new regulatory framework with obligations for certain businesses to detect and respond to scams. Consistent with the focus of this side event – Australia has also recently appointed the inaugural, independent, Australian Anti-Slavery Commissioner to prevent and respond to modern slavery.
We look forward to Vietnam hosting the signing ceremony for the UN Convention Against Cybercrime in October.
Chair,
Global security, stability and prosperity depend on ongoing and effective multilateral engagement. We look forward to continuing to work together to support effective and inclusive crime prevention and criminal justice approaches, and to participating in fruitful discussions over the coming week.