A new role has been created within the Home Affairs Department to tighten Australia's grip on "sophisticated" serious and organised crime.
Australian Federal Police (AFP) Deputy Commissioner Karl Kent has been appointed the Transnational Serious and Organised Crime Coordinator.
The announcement by Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton follows an $70 million plan to tackle child exploitation, including internationally.
It is part of a new strategy to tackle the growing issue of organised crime, which the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission estimates costs Australia $36 billion a year.
The role will help facilitate efforts between agencies and states and territories with a significant focus on firearms and substances.
Deputy Commissioner Kent said he had witnessed the effects this level of crime had on communities.
"Whether it be the scourge of drugs, not only in our cities but in our regional communities, and the harm that causes to young people, to their families and to the community in general. Whether it be child sex exploitation and the enormous victim impact that has on young children for the rest of their lives," he said.
AFP Chief Commissioner Andrew Colvin said crime affecting Australia from outside jurisdictions was increasing.
"It reaches into our homes, into the streets that state and territory police are dealing with every day," he said.
"We need to get smarter at this."
He said it presented a greater challenge in the national security space.
Organised crime more 'sophisticated' than ever before
The Minister for Law Enforcement and Cyber Security Angus Taylor said these highly developed crime groups were working at the most advanced levels seen.
"We are facing transnational serious organised crime now at a level of sophistication and at a level we have not seen before," he said.
"It's borderless, it's better organised, it's better at deploying technology than ever before."
Mr Taylor said traditional methods of crime, including substance production and collaboration, was changing.
"We see in the methamphetamine trade for instance a shift from local production and distribution to a much more globalised trade, working across ethnic communities," he said.
