The last decade has seen significant changes in the challenges faced by Australia in confronting transnational crime. The international criminal environment has undergone rapid transformation as a result of globalization, technological change, and social and economic upheaval. There are few forms or instances of significant crime affecting Australia that do not have an international dimension. Accordingly, Australia looks to take the fight against crime offshore both to deal with crime at its source where possible (for example, in drug trafficking and people smuggling), and as a global corporate citizen, realizing that some forms of crime are global in nature and require a similarly global response (for example, in internet-facilitated crimes such as e-fraud or child pornography).

While Australia's criminal environment has always been affected by its immediate geographical region as a source of illicit commodities and as a location for Australian criminals to operate, the regional connections have become increasingly important. The growth of regional economies, financial deregulation, the rapid change in the number and diversity of trade and tourism links, the increasing technological advances, and the inter-connectedness of regional technologies with those of Australia, have all contributed to new, expanded, or changed criminal opportunities. On the positive side, they have also increased the opportunities for regional law enforcement cooperation.

The accelerating need for, and implementation of, such cooperation has intensified in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States in 2001, and, for the region, as a consequence of the 2002 Bali bombings and of terrorist activity in a number of Asian nations (principally Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand). It is significant that in countries such as Indonesia, the high levels of cooperation on terrorism intelligence sharing and investigations support that has been evident between the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the Indonesian National Police (INP) have their basis in a pre-existing record of cooperation on traditional criminal matters. This foundation of trust and experience has allowed for the rapid expansion of cooperation in the counter-terrorism field.