Tracking The World's Dirty Money Trail

The Age

Saturday March 31, 2007

Caroline Rance

EMPLOYMENT ads for the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) come straight to the point with their headline question "Are you ready to challenge global crime?"

Motivation and ability to understand the complex financial arrangements that underpin tax evasion, drug trafficking and terrorism are more important than a specific set of qualifications or previous work experience, says chief executive Neil Jenson.

AUSTRAC is Australia's anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism-financing regulator. It operates a financial intelligence unit that provides information to agencies here and overseas.

Established 17 years ago, it was a relatively small organisation until terrorism burst into international - and national - consciousness following the attacks on New York's World Trade Centre.

"Our staff levels have doubled since around 2001 and are in the process of doubling again. Because of the diverse nature of our work . . . we advertise across Australia, telling people who we are and trying to get as many as possible looking at our website to see the jobs we offer," says Mr Jenson.

Over the coming months, vacancies will be advertised for people with a range of analytical skills and expertise in compliance, training and data mining. Support staff will also be needed as the organisation continues to grow.

Applicants will have to be committed to combatting crime and terror. They will need to be Australian citizens, willing to undergo police and security checks.

"Our people need to be able to think laterally and understand legislation, technology and what we do. Transnational organised crime groups work in a corporate way. They have experts working for them and looking at the legislation in different countries. We try to deter their conduct by making the wider financial sector hostile to money laundering and the financing of drugs and terrorism," says Mr Jenson.

Staff come from a range of backgrounds including the finance industry, law-enforcement agencies, other parts of government and universities. Commerce graduate, Tanya Fenton, acting manager of domestic relations for regulated entities, previously worked as a fraud investigator at the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations. Now she is engaged in making sure that all Australian businesses involved in the movement of money - the "regulated entities" in her job title - are registered and compliant with a range of legislation.

"We look at banks, credit unions, securities, derivatives, bookmakers, casinos, TABs, motor vehicle dealers, insurance companies, solicitors and the 'alternative remittance' sector - people who facilitate the transfer of funds to other countries that do not use Western-style banking.

"We work to build relationships and let people know that although we are a regulator, enforcing compliance, we can help them meet their obligations. With every cultural group there is a different way of doing things. We try to tailor what we do so that they feel comfortable with us."

Aaron Brenneman, a research analyst in the data mining and research section, is part of a group that provides information to Australian and overseas agencies.

A mathematician whose CV includes periods working in the United States navy, his more recent career incarnations include financial modelling and database design.

Flexibility and the capacity to construct a holistic picture from a range of inputs are vital to analyse reported financial transactions, identify concerns and refer them to other agencies.

"My team uses a whole variety of methods: we try to imagine ways that someone might try to do something and what it would look like. We use mathematical modelling and graphical representations to see how the picture would form," he says. -- CAROLYN RANCE

LINK

www.austrac.gov.au/recruitment

© 2007 The Age

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