The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) says it is intensifying collaboration with Pacific nations to stay ahead of fast-evolving financial crime threats, including child sexual exploitation, cryptocurrency abuse, and transnational organised crime.
“We continue to work closely with our Pacific partners to detect and disrupt financial crime, with a focus on child sexual exploitation, cryptocurrency crime, and other fast-evolving threats,” AUSTRAC said in a statement.
The Pacific Financial Intelligence Community (PFIC), established by AUSTRAC and Pacific partners, connects financial intelligence units across the region to share data, strengthen detection, and coordinate responses to criminal threats.
AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas said regional cooperation is critical.
“If we just stay within our borders, we’d have little chance of success. Our Pacific neighbours play a strategically significant role in detecting and disrupting financial crime on our doorstep. That’s why we’re supporting them with the latest tools and intelligence.”
At the 2024 PFIC plenary in Brisbane, members agreed that 2025 efforts would focus on three urgent priorities — child sexual exploitation, transnational organised crime, and the criminal use of virtual assets and cryptocurrency.
AUSTRAC said greater internet connectivity and mobile phone access have created new risks, driving a rise in online grooming and abuse across the Pacific.
According to the U.S National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, reports of online child exploitation have sharply increased in several island nations.
To help fight this, AUSTRAC and Papua New Guinea’s Financial Analysis and Supervision Unit (FASU) are launching an intelligence guide for regional financial intelligence units, law enforcement, and financial institutions. The guide aims to help detect and trace money linked to offenders and will be launched at the PFIC plenary in Fiji later this month.
“Financial service providers such as banks play a vital frontline role in helping to identify and stop those who abuse children or profit from their exploitation,” said Dr John Moss, AUSTRAC Deputy CEO Intelligence and PFIC co-chair.
“As financial crimes evolve, we need to stay ahead – and we can only do that together. Strong regional partnerships are at the heart of our work in the Pacific.”
AUSTRAC said joint Multilateral Intelligence Projects with Pacific counterparts are helping track cross-border crime while building regional expertise. Regular training, including risk assessment webinars, is also being delivered to help national financial intelligence units conduct their own money laundering and terrorism financing assessments.
Technology is another major tool in the fight. AUSTRAC has shared its advanced TAIPAN financial intelligence system with 10 Pacific countries, enabling analysts to spot suspicious transaction patterns.
Training events like the “TAIPAN Games” are helping Pacific FIUs build operational capacity. In October, the Cook Islands FIU will host its Solomon Islands counterpart for live analysis exercises, followed by a four-day Pacific Financial Intelligence Tradecraft Training programme in November.
The 2025 PFIC plenary will begin on 28 October in Nadi, Fiji.
Co-chair Caroline Pickering, Director of Fiji’s FIU, said she looked forward to welcoming regional delegates.
“This year’s PFIC plenary is a vital opportunity to share insights, strengthen our partnerships, and drive meaningful outcomes that will enhance our collective response in combating financial crime.”
PFIC brings together 15 financial intelligence units from across the Pacific — including Australia, Fiji, Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu — to collaborate through shared technology, research, and joint operations.
AUSTRAC said the network’s work is ensuring the Pacific stays ahead of the world’s fast-moving financial crime threats.
