Law, justice & securityAgencyExists today
Australian Institute of Criminology
AIC
1973 – present
Australia's national research and knowledge centre on crime and justice, conducting and publishing research and statistics on crime, criminal justice and crime prevention.
How it came into existence
Established in 1973 under the Criminology Research Act 1971, which also created the Criminology Research Council to fund criminological research. It had no Commonwealth predecessor.
Legislation: Criminology Research Act 1971
Changes during its life
- 1 July 2016Its Director also became the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission.
- 20 December 2017Moved from the Attorney-General's portfolio to the new Home Affairs portfolio.
Main functions
- Criminological research
- Crime and justice statistics and monitoring programs
- Publication of research on crime and justice
- Policy advice on crime prevention
Where it sits
In the portfolio of Department of Home Affairs.
- Type of body
- Non-corporate Commonwealth entity
- Portfolio
- Home Affairs
- Accountable authority
- Director – Criminology Research Act 1971 section 35(c)
- ABN
- 63 257 175 248
Lineage
Loading lineage…
Sources
Primary sources
- List of Commonwealth entities and companies under the PGPA Act, 1 July 2026 (Department of Finance)
- Australian Government Organisations Register (Department of Finance, data.gov.au) (listed from 11 December 2014 to the latest release (30 June 2026))
Government records and websites
Other sources
Some dates or links for this organisation are not fully confirmed. Corrections are welcome.