National real-time intelligence sharing system gets go-ahead

The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission has secured $59.1 million to fund the full rollout of its new national criminal intelligence system following a two-year pilot of the platform.

Budget papers reveal funding for the build of the long-awaited national system, which will replace the ageing Australian criminal intelligence database (ACID).

Federal, state and territory law enforcement agencies and other regulatory authorities have been using ACID to share and analyse criminal information and intelligence since 1984.

But ACIC - and the Australian Crime Commission before it - has long wanted a replacement because of the system's declining effectiveness.

It began piloting a new system after receiving an initial $9.8 million for the project, before going back to the government last year to ask for full program funding. 

The new money, which will be provided over four years, will see the agency deliver the full NCIS capability.

“The NCIS will provide a national, unified picture of criminal activity to better enable law enforcement and intelligence agencies to combat criminal and national security threats,” 2018-19 budget papers state.

It will also help law enforcement agencies avoid doubling up on investigations for the first time.

ACIC told iTnews in November that the final NCIS is expected to consist of data analytics tools and a big data platform to allow for complex analytical work.

Home Affairs’ IT upgrade back funding

Budget documents also reveal the government handed $130 million to the Department of Home Affairs to improve its IT capabilities.

This includes funding to upgrade the department’s “connected information environment”, establish a platform for the enterprise identity management system, and upgrade analytics and threat management capabilities.

The then-Department of Immigration and Border Protection said last year that it would spend the next ten years rearchitecting its entire IT environment in favour of self-contained, adaptable systems, supported by common reusable services and cloud-based infrastructure.