Organised crime figures who splash out on yachts, penthouse suites and sex workers will be targeted by the Victorian government, under new laws that will force them to repay any wealth they cannot prove was lawfully acquired.
The state’s attorney general, Jaclyn Symes, and police minister, Anthony Carbines, on Tuesday announced they will introduce the Confiscation Amendment (Unexplained Wealth) Bill to parliament, in an effort to deprive criminals of the “use and enjoyment of their unexplained wealth”.
Symes said the new laws would flip the onus from police and prosecutors – who currently have to prove a direct link between a criminal and their wealth – to the offender.
“The barrier has been is that we’ve had to demonstrate that [wealth] is connected to criminal activity. The onus now will be flipped under this legislation, you will have to demonstrate that you obtained it by legal means,” she said.
“It’s very likely unless they won Tattslotto and they can show their winning ticket. They probably were doing illegal activities to obtain their wealth.”
Carbines said the changes will also capture assets bought in a partner or relative’s name as well as gifts, “consumable wealth and wealth that has been gifted, disposed of or expended”.
“If you want to swan around with ill-gotten gains and wealth that doesn’t belong to you, that you’ve accrued illegally, police will be able to pursue you. They’ll be able to pursue your family and your partners,” he said.
“If organised crime bosses think that they can have the fancy cars, flashy yachts, spend their money on hotels and strippers, if you draw your attention to yourself, Victoria police will be after you.
“They will be able to use these laws to crack out and reclaim the stolen wealth that ill gotten gains, and it’s about continuing to make sure we put the pressure on organised crime.”
The new laws will allow the Director of Public Prosecutions to apply to a court for an order if there are reasonable grounds to suspect that a person’s total wealth exceeds their lawfully acquired wealth by at least $200,000.
If a person can’t satisfy a court that they have lawfully obtained their wealth, a court may order them to pay the state the value of anything they cannot prove was lawfully acquired.
The laws have been modelled on those currently in place in Western Australian, but are also similar to New South Wales’ laws, which were also bolstered in 2023 to allow police to seize and freeze wealth and assets without a specific offence.
The opposition leader, John Pesutto, questioned why it had taken so long for the government to introduce the legislation, though he said he supported the concept in principal.
“Frankly, after 10 years, you have to ask, what is it actually doing to crack down on organised crime?” he said.
