About ACIC
Created in July 2016, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) focuses on identifying and reducing organised crime in Australia. ACIC is part of the Five Eyes Law Enforcement Group and National Intelligence Community and is a Commonwealth statutory agency established by the Australian Crime Commission Act 2002 (Cth). At present, ACIC sits under the Home Affairs portfolio.
About the NCIS
The National Criminal Intelligence System (NCIS) is a cross-border collaboration platform created and managed by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission and operates in a joint partnership capacity between ACIC, assorted Australian police agencies, and the Department of Home Affairs, who also serves as a technical delivery partner.
The NCIS, which began as a pilot program in 2015 under the auspices of the Australian Crime Commission and had its first build in 2018 before commencing official active operation in March 2021, was designed to replace its aging predecessor, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Database (ACID), which launched more than 30 years ago in 1989.
How the NCIS works
The NCIS is an intelligence and information sharing platform for law enforcement agencies across Australia that allows for the sharing of operational policing data that can help connected law enforcement agencies learn more about criminal activity across the country – including potential risks, charges, incidents, detainments, and more, which can thus help improve the safety of officers and the decisions made during police investigations and operations.
Compliance regulations
As stated by ACIC, the NCIS has clear user access permission rules, and all use of the system is both monitored and regularly audited. Furthermore, the NCIS also has an extensive compliance framework in place to ensure it is legally compliant with all state, territory, and Commonwealth rules concerning the use and sharing of information. Finally, each contributing partner agency determines and controls what information is shared with the NCIS and provides feedback to ACIC to assist in the continual development and improvement of the platform.
Recent updates to the NCIS
The most recent major update to the NCIS, as stated by Heidi Madden, the Executive Director Intelligence and Information Systems at ACIC, was scheduled to take place in November 2025 and would see “the transition of the Australian Criminal Intelligence Database into NCIS, merging criminal intelligence with operational policing data to deliver even deeper insights”.
Partner organisations
Alongside the Department of Home Affairs, other groups and agencies that use the NCIS include:
- The Security Licensing and Enforcement Directorate (SLED)
- Western Australia Police Force
- Victoria Police
- Tasmania Police
- Queensland Police Service
- South Australia Police
- Northern Territory Police Force
- New South Wales Police Force
- ACT Policing
ACIC CEO Michael Phelan also stated in 2022 that late adopters such as the Australian Federal Police were expected to be onboarded that year.
Examples of success
A September 2025 media release from ACIC provided an example of how access to the NCIS helped the Security Licensing and Enforcement Directorate within New South Wales Police investigate a network of locksmith scammers who were engaging in money laundering, tax evasion, financial fraud, and more around Australia.
SLED’s ability to use the NCIS allowed it to access data and reports from multiple police agencies across Australia, which helped it identify the location of key persons of interest and ultimately resulted in “visa revocations and key arrests, effectively disrupting the operations of the criminal group”.
Key takeaways
The National Criminal Intelligence System inherited and built upon the system established in 1989 by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Database by creating a new, modern technology platform aimed at sharing information and intelligence among Australian police agencies and partners, thus providing a comprehensive image of criminal activity across the country.
