World-first training to create a new breed of serious financial crime fighters

01:42' 06-03-2017

A ground-breaking specialist training course that will produce world-leading financial intelligence analysts to hunt down financial criminals will be offered in Australia.

Created by Australia's financial intelligence agency AUSTRAC, the Financial Intelligence Analyst Course will be the world's first university accredited course that specialises in the analysis of financial intelligence.

Already, 16 analysts from state police and law enforcement agencies are taking part in a pilot course, and the first of many tertiary accredited courses will be rolled out later this year.

Justice Minister Michael Keenan said the man shot dead by police in Melbourne was a "known terror suspect".

Photo: Jonathan Ng

Minister for Justice Michael Keenan said the pilot involved participants from five jurisdictions; New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory.

"This is just the first step in creating a new breed of highly specialised serious financial crime fighters to protect our national security," Minister Keenan said

"Every FIAC participant will be trained to relentlessly hunt serious financial crime, terrorism financing and the profits of organised crime."

"As organised crime and terrorism becomes more sophisticated, our law enforcement and intelligence agencies need highly skilled people to fight back and protect our national security."

"By harnessing the expertise and knowledge of industry and government, FIAC will produce the specialists we need to strengthen Australia's National Intelligence Community."

AUSTRAC CEO Paul Jevtovic said the course was developed with law enforcement agencies, industry, academia and AUSTRAC's US counterpart the Financial Crimes Enforcement Agency.

"We aim to make Australia the most difficult jurisdiction in the world for organised crime and terrorism financiers to operate in," Mr Jevtovic said. "To achieve this, we have ensured the course includes financial intelligence tradecraft to transform intelligence analysts into financial intelligence analysts."

Participants gain industry knowledge of the banking, remittance, and gambling sectors and develop knowledge of crime types such as professional money launderers, organised crime, terrorist groups and terrorism financing, as well as the misuse of cryptocurrencies and darknet marketplaces.