ICMEC Australia

How cryptocurrencies can help play a role in detecting CSE facilitated online
2023-11-28 12:30 - 13:30 UTC | online, Hosted virtually by ICMEC Australia via Microsoft Teams.
Our payment habits have drastically transformed in recent years, especially since the development of cryptocurrencies and the blockchain. Digital currencies operate on a computer network, decentralised from a typical financial institution. The innate characteristics of cryptocurrencies provide anonymity and privacy to perpetrators, however, a sense of being undetectable is false.

ICMEC Australia’s November Brown Bag event will cover a topical discussion for all those working in the child sexual exploitation response community. The trading of child sexual abuse material online is sometimes accompanied by a financial transaction, so understanding the different payment methods that offenders use is key to knowing how to navigate our response to this crime. For a whole-of-system response to be successful, expanding our knowledge and understanding of new technologies used by perpetrators is key.

With an increase in digital currencies as a method of payment, the rapid advancements in this area since the introduction of the Blockchain in 2008 have grown the complexity of detecting suspicious payments. Understanding how cryptocurrency operates and its differences from traditional banking structures is critical to applying frameworks to detect and prevent child sexual exploitation transactions.

Our presenter, Luke McGoldrick, comes from Chainalysis, a global Blockchain Data Platform. He will outline cryptocurrency, its capabilities, and the ways it has the potential to intersect with online child sexual exploitation. Luke will cover the different types of crypto, how they can be used to facilitate child sexual exploitation, and will dispel the idea that digital payments made on the Blockchain are completely untraceable.

Part of developing a robust response to child sexual exploitation online is to maintain pace with how offenders manipulate existing technologies to abuse and exploit children, including the use of crypto and other digital payments.

Luke McGoldrick is a Sales Director at Chainalysis responsible for financial institutions across Australia and NZ. In his role, he is helping organisations maintain compliance across digital asset initiatives and assisting financial crimes teams in reducing scams and illicit activity where crypto is involved. Having been involved in crypto since 2018 Luke is a strong advocate for the importance of building trust in blockchains in order for the technology to fulfill its potential.

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ICMEC Australia Financial Symposium: Protecting Children Online
2023-10-25 05:30 - 06:00 | Norton Rose Fulbright Office, Level 5, 60 Martin Place, Sydney, NSW, 2000, Australia
Understanding the whole-of-organisation financial response to child sexual exploitation

ICMEC Australia invites you to our Financial Symposium to better detect, report and prevent Child Sexual Exploitation. This exclusive event will address how the financial services industry can embed a whole-of-organisation approach to enhancing the fight against Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE).

The Symposium brings together leaders from financial crime, ESG, corporate affairs, customer vulnerability and risk mitigation areas from within key financial services to gain insight from industry experts into trends and gaps in this growing human rights issue. This symposium provides an opportunity to share knowledge on data detection and network with like-minded industry colleagues.

Attendees will walk away from this event motivated and inspired, with key insights to help establish a whole-of-system approach to combating CSE.

Why

Child Sexual Exploitation facilitated online is one of the fastest-growing crimes globally, with the UN estimating that approximately 750,000 people access Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) online every second.

Technology is an incredible tool, but it provides opportunities for everyone, including perpetrators of CSE:

Just last year, the ACCCE reported a 100-fold increase in monthly child sextortion figures (December 2022)

The IWF reported that coerced self-generated CSAM rose by two-thirds in the first half of 2022

Demand for live-streaming of Child Sexual Abuse in the Philippines sharply increased, with possible reports to NCMEC more than doubling to 3.2 million from 2020 to 2021

Many of these crimes involve financial transactions which leave a trace, providing data for financial crime analysts to detect and report.

But these crimes aren't just detectable, they are also preventable, and financial institutions can play a significant role in shifting the needle on this crime at both ends of the spectrum.

Together, we can strengthen the fight against this heinous crime by looking at a whole-of-system approach to preventing and detecting CSE facilitated online.

Our approach

An informative one-day conference, this event will offer a balance between networking, opportunities to learn, and interaction with industry experts delivering key takeaways.

You will leave with a stronger understanding of Child Sexual Exploitation and how it impacts the financial services industry across financial crime and risk, as well as across a governance and social impact perspective.

Who is invited

We welcome decision-makers and leaders from Financial Services Industry organisations that facilitate payments and transactions through products and services that may be vulnerable to Child Sexual Exploitation risks. These institutions may include banks, remitters, payment platforms, cryptocurrency exchanges and credit card companies.

Within these institutions, the program will focus on two streams:

Financial Crime

If you are responsible for leading the identification, mitigation and management of Financial Crime risks relating to Child Sexual Exploitation, then our Financial Crime stream is suited to you. This could include subject matter experts leading functions in financial crime, financial crime intelligence, transaction monitoring, customer due diligence risk mitigation or similar.

ESG & Human Rights

If you are responsible for leading your Financial Institution's Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) and/or Human Rights strategy and performance, you’re a leader in Customer Vulnerability or for setting organisational strategy at the Executive level, our ESG & Human Rights stream is suited to you.

Please note: This knowledge-sharing day has a limited number of spots available and all applicants are subject to approval and must suit the seniority criteria above.

Why you should attend

To strengthen relationships in the CSE response community and network with colleagues from law enforcement, banks, academics and other corporate stakeholders

Acquire key insights into key crime types, including tangible information and takeaways that can create effective change in your organisation’s approach to combating CSE

To participate in open forums to discuss building positive change through safety by design

Understand how to integrate CSE prevention and detection into your organisation

To uncover new insights & information, and share best practice on preventing and tackling this crime in all its forms

Program ↗

Speakers

Supporters

This event is proudly supported by Norton Rose Fulbright, a key provider of pro bono legal services in Australia.

Support the ICMEC Australia Financial Symposium

If you are interested in becoming a supporter of this event, please contact RosieCampo, ICMEC Australia's Head of Collaboration by emailingrcampo@icmec.org.au.

Location

Speakers

We're starting off the event with the following speakers. For the full list of speakers, please click here↗.

Chris OwenPartner, ESG Group Chair, National Pro Bono Team LeaderNorton Rose Fulbright Australia

Chris Owen is a partner at Norton Rose Fulbright Australia and leads the firm’s national pro bono program. He is also chair of the firm’s ESG group. A litigator by background, Chris has a broad range of expertise advising in pro bono legal matters, including advising at clinics, assisting Indigenous communities, conducting advocacy on behalf of clients in court proceedings and advising on international pro bono projects. He has particular interests in human rights, strategic litigation and sustainability.

Jodie ArthurGeneral Manager, Financial CrimeWestpac Group

Jodie joined Westpac in 2020 following her role as Regional Head of Financial Crime Compliance at Standard Chartered Bank, based in Singapore. Prior to this, Jodie spent 12.5 years at ANZ Bank in a variety of roles spanning Internal Audit, Compliance, and Financial Crime and also worked for a number of years with E&Y in London, UK.

Dr Michael SalterAssociate Professor, Scientia Research FellowUniversity of New South Wales

Dr Michael Salter is the Scientia Associate Professor of Criminology at the University of New South Wales. He is an internationally recognised expert in the study of child abuse, violence against women, and complex trauma. His published work includes the books Organised Sexual Abuse (2013, Routledge) and Crime, Justice and Social Media (2017, Routledge), and over fifty papers in international journals and edited collections. His research engages with policy and practice across multiple sectors, including mental health, social work, child protection, law enforcement, and internet regulation.

Sonja MarsicRisk Advisory PartnerNorton Rose Fulbright

Sonja Marsic is a risk advisory partner at global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright based in Sydney. Sonja has undertaken a number of financial crime and anti-money laundering & counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) cases in Australia. She has over 25 years' experience in civil enforcement, civil investigations, and statutory interpretation. Sonja was previously a Senior Executive Lawyer with the Australian Government Solicitor (AGS) conducting litigation and advising on anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism financing regulation, financial regulation, consumer law, and other civil regulation for a broad range of Commonwealth departments and agencies.

Paul JevtovicChief Financial Crime Risk Officer & Group MLRONational Australia Bank Limited

Paul Jevtovic has enjoyed a long career serving our nation in national and international law enforcement, national intelligence, anti-corruption, and as CEO of AUSTRAC – Australia’s AML/CTF regulator and national financial intelligence unit. Paul recently joined NAB in September 2021 as the Chief Financial Crime Risk Officer & Group MLRO. Throughout his career, Paul has led a complex portfolio of capabilities across the first and second lines of defence including Investigations, Financial Crime analysis, AML/CTF, AB&C, Fraud, Sanctions, Risk Assessment & Operational Analytics, and Transaction Monitoring.

Dylan RyanHead of Financial Crime AdvisoryANZ Australia Retail Bank, Australia Commercial Bank, Corporate Centre & Services Divisions

Dylan has over 21 years of financial crime experience (incl. AML/CTF, Sanctions, Fraud Risk and Anti-Bribery / Anti-Corruption). He has also worked on anti-crime-related initiatives and activities across a range of industries such as mining, media, government, facilities management, casinos, and algorithmic trading organisations. In his current role at ANZ, he and the team provide subject matter expertise and 2nd Line risk support to 55 business units, which also includes the digital transformation of ANZ’s Retail Bank in Australia.

Prior to this, he was ANZ’s Head of Fraud Risk Strategy which involved ensuring fraud risk management alignment (including cyber-related risk) across 31 countries in which ANZ operates.

‘Follow the money’: A collaborative approach to fighting CSE
2023-09-27 12:30 - 13:30 | online, Hosted virtually by ICMEC Australia via Microsoft Teams.
Buy a copy of Saving Our Kids

Following the digital footprint left by the online activity of child sexual predators is key when it comes to protecting children from technology-assisted sexual abuse. But maintaining pace with the evolving tactics of offenders takes a networked approach.

Understanding how each organisation fits into the jigsaw puzzle that is child protection requires cross-industry collaboration. ICMEC Australia’s September Brown Bag event will feature Madonna King and Jon Rouse APM in an in-depth discussion on the importance of collaboration - especially between two key industries in the fight against CSE, law enforcement and financial institutions.

They will discuss the important role that financial institutions play in the response to child sexual exploitation, and how their work forms an essential part of the evidence needed to find perpetrators and, ultimately, their victims.

Understanding the perspectives and challenges faced by the different frontline defenders of children being harmed is essential in the fight against this heinous crime. Jon will share his insights from three decades of experience in law enforcement, and a deep understanding of the impact that collaboration has on bringing about better outcomes for children.

A renowned Australian journalist Madonna released her latest book Saving Our Kids during National Child Protection Week. The book tells the inside story of Taskforce Argos, a renowned Queensland Police Force investigative team dedicated to prosecuting online child sex offenders and saving children from harm. Featuring the work of many of ICMEC Australia’s staff, Madonna emphasises the important role of financial institutions in fighting CSE, and will elaborate on this in her discussion with Jon.

This “global humanitarian crisis” can’t be ignored and whether you work at a financial institution, regulator, online platform, law enforcement agency, or not-for-profit, you will gain great insights from this session.

Join us online on Wednesday 27th September at 1:00pm as Madonna and Jon engage in a meaningful conversation that will help guide your work in child protection, and ultimately to enhance the detection, reporting, prosecution, and prevention of online child sexual exploitation.

Your speakers

Madonna King is one of Australia’s most accomplished journalists, having won awards for her ABC Radio Brisbane Mornings current affairs program. She writes for publications such as Nine, The New Daily and InQld, regularly appears on ABC’s The Drum, and is the author of numerous bestselling books.

Jon Rouse APM is one of the world’s most recognised and influential figures in the fight against child sexual exploitation. He has 39 years’ law enforcement experience with QPS, 26 of those years spent leading Taskforce Argos. Jon joined the ICMEC Australia Board in December 2022 as part of his continued commitment to protecting and saving children from sexual exploitation and abuse.

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Saving Our Kids: Fireside chat with Madonna King and Jon Rouse
2023-08-17 00:00
Join Madonna King and Jon Rouse APM in a fireside chat about how we can protect our children from sexual abuse and exploitation

Madonna King's new book tells the inside story of Taskforce Argos, the renowned Queensland Police team dedicated to prosecuting offenders of online child sexual exploitation and saving children from harm. Collaborating with Jon, Madonna writes about their investigations, from undercover cases to operations on a global scale. She explores what makes a victim and what makes an abuser, and distils the work that goes into bringing down perpetrators. "Saving Our Kids" highlights the dangers lurking in every child's smartphone, web browser, and computer game. It is the story of the tireless work of saving children from the online manipulation that is stealing their innocence, and raises awareness of how we can all protect the children in our lives.

This fireside chat will give deeper meaning to your work in fighting against child sexual exploitation facilitated online, and leave you inspired by the importance of what you do on a daily basis.

Your speakers

Madonna King is one of Australia's most accomplished journalists, having won awards for her ABC Radio Brisbane Mornings current affairs program. She writes for publications such as Nine, Crikey and The New Daily, and is the author of numerous bestselling books.

Jon Rouse is one of the world’s most recognised and influential figures in the fight against child sexual exploitation. He has 39 years’ law enforcement experience with QPS, 26 of those years spent leading Task force Argos. Jon joined the ICMEC Australia Board in December 2022 as part of his continued commitment to protecting and saving children from sexual exploitation and abuse.

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