Organised crime networks are becoming increasingly sophisticated, using encrypted technology, online platforms and layers of associates to organise serious violence and evade law enforcement.
Legislation is being developed to give NSW Police stronger tools to disrupt organised crime networks, including new interim Serious Crime Prevention Orders and new offences targeting the use of online platforms to arrange serious criminal activity.
The Government will also introduce a new aggravated offence for conspiracy to commit gang-related murder, increasing the maximum penalty to life imprisonment.
The legislative package will include:
Interim Serious Crime Prevention Orders
The Government will introduce interim Serious Crime Prevention Orders (SCPOs), allowing restrictions to be imposed on individuals suspected of involvement in serious and organised crime while a full order is considered by the Supreme Court.
Existing SCPOs are a highly effective tool for restricting the activities of individuals involved in serious crime and disrupting conflict between organised crime networks.
The new interim orders will allow restrictions to be put in place sooner and allow the urgent imposition of restrictions to prevent, restrict or disrupt an individual’s involvement in serious crime related activities.
Restrictions imposed by the court can include limiting who someone can associate with, where they go and conditions about access to devices, the internet and tech platforms.
These measures will help police target those suspected of involvement in serious criminal activity before offences happen.
Interim orders are already available for convicted high-risk offenders and terrorists. The reforms will draw from this approach to apply interim orders to people suspected of involvement in organised crime.
Cracking down on online contract crime
New offences will target people who administer or encourage the use of digital platforms to arrange or facilitate serious organised criminal activity. The reforms will be modelled on existing offences under the Crimes Act 1900 dealing with digital platforms used for child abuse material.
The laws will also make it a crime to encourage someone else to use a digital platform to arrange or facilitate these offences or to provide information to evade detection for these new offences.
Life imprisonment for conspiring to commit gang-related murder
The Government will introduce new aggravated offences for conspiracy and attempted murder, with an increased maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
The new offences will capture criminals involved in planning a murder, even if they are not the person conducting the killing.
They will cover those who attempt, conspire or agree to murder – as well as anyone who solicits, encourages, persuades or endeavours to persuade someone to murder – even if the murder does not actually occur.
The NSW Government has zero tolerance for anyone involved in gang killings and offenders will now face life sentences for this abhorrent conduct.
Stronger consequences for young people committing serious offences
The Government will expand serious children’s indictable offences (SCIOs) to cover conduct linked to organised crime. SCIOs must be tried in higher courts, like the District or Supreme court, where children face adult penalties, including longer terms of imprisonment.
Four additional offences relating to public shootings and firebombings will be added to the SCIO scheme which currently includes offences with a maximum penalty of 25 years or life imprisonment.
Expanded technology to access encrypted devices
The Government will invest $15 million to expand NSW Police technology capabilities to access, download and analyse encrypted devices and digital platforms linked to organised crime investigations.
Criminal networks increasingly rely on encrypted devices and digital communications to organise their operations and attempt to evade law enforcement.
The investment will see technology rolled out more broadly across NSW, putting these capabilities into more police stations and giving investigators faster access to critical digital evidence.
Building on a major crackdown on organised crime
These reforms build on the stronger laws, powers and resources the Minns Labor Government has already delivered to help NSW Police disrupt organised crime and take dangerous weapons off the street.
Taskforce Falcon, which brings together 150 police to target organised criminal networks, had made 784 arrests, laid 2,037 charges and seized 181 weapons and 66 firearms as of 2 September, 2026.
Since 2022, Strike Force Raptor has made more than 5,400 arrests, laid almost 13,000 charges and issued 3,865 firearms prohibition orders targeting outlaw motorcycle gangs and organised crime.
Over the past year, the Government has also strengthened organised crime laws, including tougher penalties for public place shootings and the use of “kill cars”, stronger bail laws, and expanded powers to target unexplained wealth, criminal assets and unlawful surveillance.
Further legislation currently before Parliament will strengthen police access to digital evidence in organised crime matters and unredacted toll camera images, increase penalties for refusing to cooperate with the NSW Crime Commission and enable NSW to participate in Commonwealth face-matching services.
The 2026–27 NSW Budget is also investing $108.8 million in major technology upgrades for NSW Police.
The Government’s firearms buyback scheme will commence on 2 November to reduce the number of firearms in the community. A major source of illegal firearms are legally registered guns that have been stolen: between 1 August 2024 to 31 July 2026, 778 firearms were reported stolen to the NSW Police - that’s 1 firearm a day. NSW Police’s State Crime Command also seized 326 firearms between January and August this year as part of operations to disrupt serious and organised criminal networks.
The Government will continue to give NSW Police the laws, powers and resources they need to disrupt organised crime and keep the community safe.
Premier of New South Wales Chris Minns said:
“Organised crime doesn't stand still, and neither can the laws and powers we give police to fight it.
“We want to hit these criminal networks at every point – the people who organise the violence, the people who facilitate it online and the people who ultimately carry it out.
“If you conspire to arrange a gangland murder, you should face the prospect of spending the rest of your life behind bars.”
Acting Minister for Police and Counter-terrorism Paul Scully said:
“As organised criminals change their tactics, the government will continue to strengthen the laws that help police stop them in their tracks.
“These extraordinary new powers will support NSW Police in continuing to disrupt criminal networks, get the people pulling the strings and put them all behind bars.
“When the police tell us they need stronger laws, powers or resources to take on organised crime, this government will act.
“We are already going after the guns, the kill cars, the money, and the recruitment of children, and now we are going further.”
Attorney General Michael Daley said:
“These new laws will help police disrupt these organised criminal networks faster and more efficiently to prevent serious offending.
“We know organised criminals use complex intermediaries to try and conceal their involvement in contract killings, which is why we’re targeting the organisation and facilitation of these offences online.
“We are also ensuring anyone who plans or arranges these murders, even if they do not carry them out, will face the toughest possible penalty of life imprisonment.”
NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said:
“The NSW Police Force is relentless in its pursuit of organised crime and keeping the community safe.
“The new reforms will provide police with stronger powers to disrupt criminal networks and will act as a significant deterrent for those who want to engage in reckless violence.
“The significant investment in digital forensic capabilities will give police the ability to crack encrypted devices and uncover evidence organised criminals rely on to hide their activities.
“Alongside an increased police presence on the ground and in the air, these changes and investment mean we have the capability and resources to dismantle organised criminal networks and continue to protect the community.”
