35th Session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice: National Statement
Statement by H.E. Ambassador Ian Biggs, Australia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations and International Organisations in Vienna
1 June 2026
Chair
At this 35th session of the CCPCJ, Australia is pleased to reiterate our support for the important work of the Commission and its central role in advancing collective responses to increasingly complex and transnational criminal threats. We reaffirm our commitment to international law and multilateral cooperation; urging all Member States to fulfil their contributions and support developing countries to effectively prevent and combat crime. We welcome the appointment of Ms Monica Kathina Juma of Kenya as Executive Director of the UNODC and look forward to working closely together.
Chair
We face an increasingly complex and diffuse threat environment where criminal actors operate beyond borders, inflicting far-reaching harm to our communities. Australia remains firmly focused on addressing this evolving threat landscape through collaborative efforts, acknowledging it takes coordinated action to disrupt and dismantle sophisticated and entrenched criminal networks.
Chair
We are committed to working with international partners to develop meaningful solutions to shared challenges in crime prevention and criminal justice. An example of the need for strong partnerships are the global and regional responses to combating threats such as online scam centres. These ecosystems of poly-criminality are a confluence of serious transnational crimes including human trafficking for forced criminality, cyber-enabled fraud, and illicit financing. Australia is committed to being a trusted partner in Southeast Asia. Through Operation Firestorm, led by the Australian Federal Police, and our development programs such as the ASEAN-Australia Counter Trafficking Program, Australia supports regional partners to disrupt criminal syndicates and strengthen protections for victim-survivors.
Chair
In the face of converging threats from criminal actors, meaningful multistakeholder participation is also vital. Bringing together diverse expertise and perspectives is essential to achieving coordinated approaches and ensuring that fair, impartial, accessible and transparent justice systems remain at the centre of our efforts. Australia’s participation in the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime demonstrates this collective approach in practice, and our commitment to combat cybercrime.
We look forward to continuing our collaborative support for the Commission and to fruitful discussions this week.