Organised crime benefits from Aust tastes

Organised crime will continue to be a problem as long as Australians remain willing to pay big money for illegal drugs, buy counterfeit items and take their passion for sex offshore.

A new Australian Strategic Policy Institute study says public demand for the products and services provided by organised crime is a key driver of the harm caused by organised crime.

But assessing the full extent of that harm remains difficult.

There's a clear picture of the harm caused by illicit drugs. But the impact of crimes such as fraud, corruption and cybercrime remain under-reported, under-researched and just plain hard to assess, it says.

The Australian Crime Commission says serious and organised crime costs Australia a conservative $15 billion a year.

Costs of identity crime alone could exceed $1.6 billion a year, the Attorney-General's department calculates.

"The harm is clearly seen at the borders where serious and organised crime constantly challenges the Australian government's right to control imports and exports," it said.

There's also increasing concern about links between terrorism and organised crime - drugs produced by the Afghan Taliban and Colombian FARC are consumed in Australia.

The study says some Australians and Australian businesses are key participants in illicit markets here and overseas.

"While not everyone contributes, serious and organised crime is encouraged by Australians' willingness to pay high prices for illicit drugs and counterfeits, save a few bob on something that fell of the back of a truck, accept too good to be true deals and take their demand for sex offshore," it says.

Violence was once considered a key element of the methods of organised crime.

But with the increasing prevalence of cyberspace as a means and target for organised criminal acts and fraud that undermines economic strength, that is not always so any more, the study says.