Illicit Tobacco Taskforce
On 1 July 2018, the Illicit Tobacco Taskforce (taskforce) was established as part of new reforms. Under the combined power of these government agencies, the taskforce fights back against organised criminals operating multimillion dollar crime syndicates in the shadow economy.
The taskforce draws on the expertise and advanced capabilities of the:
- Australian Taxation Office (ATO)
- Australian Border Force (ABF)
- Department of Home Affairs
- Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC)
- Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC)
- Commonwealth Department of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) and law enforcement partners.
The taskforce uses enhanced investigative and intelligence gathering methodologies to disrupt illicit activity by:
- targeting international and domestic supply chain vulnerabilities through enhanced data analysis and identifying priority illicit tobacco networks using a counter networking approach
- targeting the criminal economy and responding to large profits realised by organised criminals in cooperation with the Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce and the Serious Financial Crime Taskforce
- using specialist law enforcement capabilities
- using the data-mining and financial analysis capabilities of AUSTRAC and the ATO to trace illicit financial flows from domestic and international trafficking
- working closely with the CDPP to prepare cogent briefs of evidence in both the criminal and civil (proceeds of crime) jurisdictions
- working with domestic and international law enforcement and customs bodies to leverage additional capabilities and support.
The taskforce's achievements demonstrate the effectiveness of Australia's enhanced approach in tackling illicit tobacco in the community. To guide our approach, we use the experiences of other countries including the United Kingdom, the strategic insights of ACIC and the findings of the Shadow Economy Taskforce.
ATO domestic illicit tobacco response
Under our current approach, we estimate that illicit imported tobacco accounts for around 90% of the total illicit market. This means around 10% of the illicit market is estimated to be sourced from domestically grown tobacco crop. Through the taskforce, multiple agencies have responsibility for tobacco compliance activities (seizures). The ATO has responsibility for the detection and seizure of domestically grown crops.
Complementing our support to the taskforce, we conduct additional operations to seize and destroy domestically grown and manufactured illicit tobacco crops. No licenses have been issued to manufacture tobacco domestically since 2015.
We receive referrals from the taskforce and state law enforcement partners and tip-offs from industry and the community.
Between 1 July 2018 and 30 June 2025, our Illicit Tobacco Team completed 97 operational activities. These included 19 Illicit Tobacco Taskforce (whole of government) operations, 34 ATO- specific operations and 44 state law enforcement support operations.
These operations resulted in:
- 647 acres of illicit tobacco crops located, seized and destroyed with a total weight of 392,835 kilograms
- 39,998 kilograms of loose-leaf tobacco located, seized and destroyed
- 28,548,751 cigarettes located, seized and destroyed
- total estimated excise duty foregone value of $782 million
The domestic response also includes some small funding for ATO auditors who support the taskforce with the financial analysis relating to priority illicit tobacco network targets.
Tobacco legislation
The legislation under Division 308 of the Taxation Administration Act 1953 has been used widely to deter illicit tobacco operations. Results from the 97 (up from 90) operational activities include:
- 48 (up from 44) briefs of evidence being referred to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions
- 31 (up from 27) convictions in relation to tobacco related offending
- 13 (up from 9) prosecution matters still proceeding through the court system.
Sentences have ranged from 4-months imprisonment (suspended for 12 months conditional on good behaviour) to 3-years imprisonment (eligible for parole after 2 years and 3 months).
Communication approaches
Our communication approach focuses on the ATO (and other partner agencies under the taskforce) to demonstrate our effectiveness in dealing with domestically grown and manufactured illicit tobacco.
We use a range of communication tactics, including media releases, to let people know about the risks of being associated with the illicit tobacco trade. This increases community awareness and ensures people continue to refer illicit tobacco crops to state or federal law enforcement agencies or the ATO.
We also use targeted communications to inform the community about key risk areas, including known tobacco growing hotspots, criminal prosecutions and even the involvement of serious organised crime. We also promote the important work of the taskforce, ATO and our law enforcement partners in undertaking search warrants, crop destruction as well as crop-to-shop strategies to address illegal tobacco in retail stores.