The Act rests on a small number of core structural concepts, each carrying concrete legal consequences.

• Applied provisions (s 3): The ACC Act plus its subordinate instruments are imported wholesale as "applied provisions" and operate as State law subject to modification. The statutory definition expressly includes the ACC Act itself and "all regulations, directions and guidelines" made under it. That creates a composite body of law whose content will track Commonwealth materials unless and until the NSW regulations modify them under s 6.

• Recharacterisation of jurisdictional factual predicates (s 5): The Act substitutes State-relevant predicates for federally relevant ones. Specifically, references in the ACC laws to "a federally relevant criminal activity" are treated as references to a "relevant criminal activity" insofar as the serious or organised crime is, or includes, an offence against a NSW law. This is a textual transformation that expands the operational reach of ACC powers to matters that are purely State offences, so long as the subject matter is serious and organised in the terms used.

• Commonwealth procedural overlay for State offences (ss 14-16): The Act makes a category-level choice: certain offences that arise under the applied provisions are to be treated, for various procedural and remedial purposes, as if they were Commonwealth offences. Section 14 defines the object and lists purposes,investigation, arrest, trial, sentencing, proceeds of crime, spent convictions etc.,and s 15 gives effect by making "relevant Commonwealth laws" apply as laws of the State in relation to those offences. Section 16 extends associated functions and powers to Commonwealth officers and authorities in relation to those offences, subject to the obligation to act "as nearly as practicable" as they would in Commonwealth contexts.

• Delegation and personal performance rules for federal judicial officers (s 12-13): The Act treats federal judicial officers who perform functions under the applied provisions as acting in a personal capacity rather than as a court, while granting them the same protection and immunity as when they act in their judicial capacity. Delegations under the ACC Act are treated as extending to applied provisions.

• Interpretive regime (s 7): The Commonwealth Acts Interpretation Act 1901 is applied to the applied provisions as if they were a Commonwealth law; the State Interpretation Act 1987 is displaced for those provisions. This produces a different statutory interpretation regime for the applied provisions than for ordinary NSW law.

• Executive arrangements and secondment (ss 18-19): The Minister can make arrangements to provide information to the Board (s 18) and to make State officers, employees or NSW Police available to perform services for the ACC (s 19). Those arrangements are administrative instruments that bridge State resources and the ACC.

• Transitional validation of prior NCA activity (Schedule 2): Numerous clauses in Schedule 2 convert, validate or preserve actions, directions, notations, seized things, secrecy obligations and administrative arrangements that were in force under the repealed NCA (State Provisions) Act, so as to avoid gaps in effect when the ACC regime replaced the NCA one.

Each concept changes who may act and under what legal clothes. The Act creates a hybrid enforcement architecture: State-level offending can be investigated, and certain legal steps taken, under ACC rules and with Commonwealth authorities involved, but within an overlay of statutory constraints,Board consent where required (s 9), possible regulatory exceptions (s 6, s 15(3)) and constitutional limits on imposing duties beyond State legislative power (s 11).

The Act identifies and directly affects a discrete set of actors, and indirectly affects others by changing the legal treatment of certain offences.

Primary actors named in the text

• The Australian Crime Commission (ACC) and its Board, Chair, CEO, examiners and staff (s 3 definitions). The term "Commonwealth body or person" specifically includes the ACC and those persons.
• Commonwealth judicial officers: Judges of the Federal Court and Federal Magistrates (s 3 definitions; s 12).
• The NSW Minister and the Commonwealth Minister for administrative arrangements (ss 18-19).
• The Governor (for regulations) (s 22).
• NSW courts and judges who may be asked to carry out functions under the ACC Act (s 20).

State executive and agencies

• NSW Police Force members: the Minister may arrange for members to be made available to the ACC for services (s 19). That can be a secondment or similar arrangement.
• Other NSW State officers or employees and State authorities: s 19 contemplates making persons who are officers or employees of the State or an authority of the State available to perform services for the ACC; s 18 contemplates the State or an authority providing information or intelligence.

Persons investigated or charged

• Individuals or organisations involved in "relevant criminal activities" that are offences against NSW law can be the subject of ACC investigations conducted under the applied provisions (s 5). For such people, offences under the applied provisions will be treated as Commonwealth offences for many purposes (ss 14-15), with attendant procedural implications.

Legal service providers and regulators

• Prosecutors, defence counsel and courts will be affected by the recharacterisation of offences and by the interpretive regime shift (s 7). In particular, criminal procedure and sentencing may be governed by Commonwealth law as applied in NSW pursuant to s 15, subject to regulations.

Other indirect effects

• Administrative-service budgets: State agencies that enter into arrangements under ss 18-19 may incur costs or have personnel seconded to the ACC. The Act does not itself appropriate funds; operationalisation of arrangements would entail administrative choices and resourcing by the State.
• Private sector businesses and compliance-focused entities: where matters of serious and organised crime that are offences under State law fall within the ACC's investigatory remit, private entities may face ACC powers (search warrants, summonses, examinations) now operating in the State jurisdiction via the applied provisions.

Who decides and who pays

• Decision-making is split. The ACC Board and Commonwealth officers decide whether and how to exercise ACC functions (ss 8-9), subject to any consent requirements in the ACC Act (s 9). The NSW Minister and Governor have decision authority over arrangements and regulations (ss 18, 19, 22). Financial costs of assistance or secondment are matters for the administrative arrangements (s 19), but the Act provides the power rather than funding terms; the arrangements themselves will specify who bears costs.

Constraints and limits

• The Act preserves constitutional and legislative limits: it does not purport to impose duties on Commonwealth bodies that would exceed the State's legislative power (s 11(1)). It also provides that a Commonwealth body or person is not precluded by State law from performing a conferred function (s 10), which clarifies that State law does not restrict Commonwealth exercise of these imported powers.

In sum, the Act puts Commonwealth and State enforcement architectures into operational contact: the ACC and Commonwealth judicial officers gain roles in respect of State offences, while State agencies may provide information and personnel. The immediate legal subjects affected are the named Commonwealth and State entities, and persons who are subject to ACC investigations under the applied provisions.

The Act does not create many new discrete duties or rights expressed in stand-alone form; rather it imports duties, powers and procedural regimes from the ACC Act and makes them applicable in New South Wales. The key duties, rights and operational constraints to note are the following.

Importation of ACC functions and duties

• Commonwealth bodies and persons have the functions conferred on them by the applied provisions (s 8). Those functions include investigative and enforcement powers that the ACC Act assigns to the ACC, Board, CEO, examiners and other officers. The practical duty to perform a function is subject to consent rules in the ACC Act,so the Act explicitly preserves ACC Act provisions that require Board consent before exercise of particular functions (s 9).

Treatment of offences and legal consequences

• An offence against the applied provisions is to be treated as an offence against Commonwealth law for many legal purposes set out in s 14 (investigation, prosecution, arrest, trial, sentencing, fines, proceeds of crime, spent convictions, etc.). That recharacterisation creates procedural and substantive consequences for defendants, victims and prosecutors. Section 15 implements this by making "relevant Commonwealth laws apply as laws of this State" in relation to such offences (s 15(1)). For NSW legal actors, that means they must apply Commonwealth law as if it were State law in prescribed contexts.

Obligations on Commonwealth officers and authorities

• Where Commonwealth laws applied because of s 15 confer functions or powers on a Commonwealth officer or authority in relation to an offence under the ACC Act, s 16(1) confers the same function or power in relation to the corresponding offence under the applied provisions. Section 16(2) requires such officers or authorities, when performing those functions or exercising those powers, to act "as nearly as practicable" as they would in the corresponding Commonwealth context. That imposes an operational expectation of parity of process for Commonwealth officers acting in NSW under the applied provisions.

Judicial roles and immunities

• A Judge of a State court may perform functions conferred on Judges by specified sections of the ACC Act (s 20). Separately, federal judicial officers who perform functions under the applied provisions act in a personal capacity rather than as a court, but enjoy the same protections and immunity as if performing the function as a member of their court (s 12(2), (4)). That preserves legal protection for those officers while clarifying they are not acting in a formal judicial institutional capacity when performing applied-provision functions.

Rights in relation to double jeopardy and prior punishment

• The Act provides that if an act or omission is an offence under both the applied provisions and the ACC Act, and the person has been punished under the ACC Act, the person is not liable to be punished under the applied provisions (s 17). That is a double jeopardy safeguard between the two regimes.

Regulatory and interpretive rights/duties

• The Governor may make regulations necessary to carry the Act into effect (s 22). The regulations may also modify the ACC laws for the purposes of the Act, including specifying that particular Commonwealth amendments do not apply as State law (s 6). Practitioners therefore must check both Commonwealth instruments and State regulations to determine which ACC provisions apply in New South Wales and whether any Commonwealth changes have been excluded by regulation.

Administrative arrangements obligations

• The Minister is authorised to make arrangements for the State to provide information to the ACC Board (s 18) and to make State officers and members of the NSW Police Force available to the ACC (s 19). Those arrangements will create duties on agencies and individuals seconded or providing information, but the Act leaves the content of such duties to the arrangements themselves.

Secrecy and saved obligations

• Schedule 2 preserves secrecy obligations that applied under the NCA (State Provisions) Act and extends secrecy protections in the applied provisions to former officials (sch 2 cl 11). That implies continuing confidentiality duties on persons who previously operated under the NCA regime.

Practical consequence: rights and duties are mostly derivative. The Act's operative effect is to reassign what law applies and which entities may act; the specific rights and obligations that flow to individuals and agencies will therefore be found in the ACC Act and applied provisions (as modified by NSW regulations). Professionals must therefore trace the applicable ACC provisions, any State modifications under s 6, and transitional provisions in Schedule 2 to determine the precise duties and rights in any case.

This Act itself does not create a new catalogue of distinct NSW penalties. Instead, it determines the legal character and enforcement framework for offences arising under the applied provisions and furnishes an enforcement architecture that mixes Commonwealth and State actors.

Treatment of offences and relevant laws

• The Act requires that "relevant Commonwealth laws apply as laws of this State" in relation to an offence against the applied provisions (s 15(1)). Section 15(2) takes the further step of declaring that for the purposes of a law of this State, an offence against the applied provisions is taken to be an offence against the laws of the Commonwealth and not an offence against the laws of this State. That transforms the applicable penalty and procedural regime: penalties, arrest powers, custody, trial, sentencing, proceeds of crime regimes and spent convictions provisions that are contained in the Commonwealth laws identified will apply in NSW as if they were State law in those instances (s 14(2) lists the purposes).

Role of Commonwealth officers and authorities

• Section 16 confers on Commonwealth officers and authorities the same functions and powers they would have in relation to an ACC Act offence, but now in relation to the corresponding applied-provision offence. The provision also obliges such officers to act "as nearly as practicable" as they would in Commonwealth matters (s 16(2)). For enforcement, that means Commonwealth investigative practices, use of ACC examiners, summons powers and procedures for search and seizure that are present in the ACC Act may be deployed in respect of State offences designated under the applied provisions.

Double jeopardy protection

• Section 17 provides that if a person has been punished under the ACC Act for an act that is also an offence under the applied provisions, the person is not liable to be punished again under the applied provisions. That protects against duplication of punishment between the two regimes.

Search, seizures and evidence continuity

• Schedule 2 validates the status of things seized under earlier NCA warrants by making them fall within the applied provisions' seizure and evidence rules (sch 2 cl 6). The Schedule similarly preserves existing directions as to publication and evidence handling from the NCA era (sch 2 cl 7). Those transitional clauses reduce evidentiary and enforcement discontinuities that might otherwise arise on repeal of the NCA State provisions.

Enforcement discretion and regulatory carving out

• The Act permits regulations to modify ACC laws for State purposes (s 6), and s 15(3) preserves that such regulatory modifications can limit the effect of s 15(2). Practically, NSW can choose to exclude particular Commonwealth enforcement rules or procedural consequences via State regulations if it wishes. That creates potential for divergence between Commonwealth ACC practice and the way the applied provisions operate in NSW; practitioners must verify whether regulations have been made that affect enforcement mechanisms.

Who enforces and under what legal guise

• The Act leaves enforcement capability with the ACC and Commonwealth officers exercising the conferred functions, but also contemplates State personnel performing services for the ACC under arrangements (s 19). Section 10 states a Commonwealth body or person is not precluded by State laws from performing an applied-provision function; therefore, Commonwealth authorities may lawfully exercise the powers conferred without being impeded by State legal constraints. Conversely, the practical enforcement mix may involve State police working under ACC direction or seconded, or Commonwealth officers acting in NSW under the applied provisions.

Practical note for practitioners

• To determine applicable penalties and enforcement procedure in a given case, a practitioner must: (a) identify whether the conduct falls within a relevant ACC applied provision as modified by any NSW regulations (s 5-6); (b) identify the Commonwealth laws that "apply" by operation of s 15 and the particular ACC Act provisions relied on; and (c) check for any State regulations that alter the operation of those Commonwealth laws in NSW (s 6, s 15(3)). The Act makes the legal source of applicable penalties and procedures a matter of statutory mapping rather than a simple State-created penalty schedule.

The Act functions as an importing and modifying instrument; it cross-links the ACC Act, Commonwealth interpretation rules, and pre-existing State legislation and transitional regimes. Key interaction points follow.

Interpretive regimes and hierarchy

• Section 7 states the Commonwealth Acts Interpretation Act 1901 applies as a law of New South Wales in relation to the applied provisions as if they were a Commonwealth Act or regulations under one. The NSW Interpretation Act 1987 does not apply to the applied provisions. That decisively alters statutory interpretation tools for applied provisions operating in NSW and can affect construction of terms, time computations and other interpretive consequences ordinarily governed by the State Interpretation Act.

Supersession and repeal of prior State law

• The Act repeals the National Crime Authority (State Provisions) Act 1984 and its regulation (s 23). Schedule 2 provides a suite of savings and transitional provisions that convert previous NCA-era orders, notations, directions, seized things, administrative arrangements and secrecy obligations into the ACC framework (sch 2 cls 2-12). Clause 12 validates administrative actions taken under the NCA (State Provisions) Act as if that Act had been a relevant State Act for the Cooperative Schemes (Administrative Actions) Act 2001. This is an example of how the Act avoids legal discontinuity by expressly preserving pre-existing legal effects.

Concurrent operation with State law and constitutional limits

• Section 5 imports the ACC laws "as modified" so they operate as State law when the serious and organised crime includes an offence against a law of the State. But s 11(1) expressly states the Part does not purport to impose any duty on a Commonwealth body or person if that imposition would be beyond the legislative power of the State Parliament. That is an acknowledgement that the State cannot constitutionally compel Commonwealth organs to perform duties that exceed State legislative competence. Section 10 further provides that Commonwealth bodies are not precluded by State law from performing a conferred function, clarifying that State law will not operate to block Commonwealth exercise of the applied provisions.

Interaction with Commonwealth law and regulatory modification

• The Act gives the regulations power to modify the ACC laws for the purposes of the Act (s 6). That is a formal mechanism by which NSW can tailor the application of Commonwealth ACC rules. Subsection 6(2) permits regulations to provide that a specified Commonwealth amendment "had not taken effect" for the purposes of the applied provisions. Separately, s 15(3) states that the treatment of offences as Commonwealth offences has effect for the purposes of State law "except as provided by the regulations under this Act." Both provisions create an express locus where NSW regulations can diverge from Commonwealth ACC law.

Overlap with criminal procedure and sentencing regimes

• Because the Act instructs that relevant Commonwealth laws apply as laws of NSW in respect of applied-provision offences (s 15(1)), procedural features,such as the roles of examiners, warrant provisions, arrest powers, and proceeds of crime mechanisms,will be governed by Commonwealth statutory text as applied. Legal actors must therefore map which Commonwealth procedures apply and in what form; the mapping may be altered by NSW regulations invoking s 6 or s 15(3).

Secrecy and transitional obligations

• Schedule 2 extends secrecy obligations from the NCA era to former officials and preserves notations and publication directions (sch 2 cls 7, 8, 11). These saved obligations can interact with State access to information regimes and with duties to disclose in prosecutions, so practitioners must check Schedule 2 for legacy constraints on disclosure and publication.

Limits on judicial action and institutional identity

• Section 12 treats functions conferred on federal judicial officers as conferred in a personal capacity and not as court acts. Anything done by a judicial officer under the applied provisions is effective only by virtue of those applied provisions and is not to be taken by implication to be done by a court. This interacts with doctrines about judicial authority, judicial functions, and institutional confidentiality; practitioners should be alert that the procedural posture is personal rather than institutional.

Regulations and savings with temporal effect

• Schedule 2 clause 13 allows regulations to contain savings or transitional provisions with retrospective commencement from the date of assent, but curtails that retrospective effect so it does not adversely affect private rights or impose liabilities before publication in the Gazette (sch 2 cl 13(3)). This preserves regulatory flexibility while providing a statutory protection against prejudicial retroactivity.

Overall, the Act serves as a statutory bridge between Commonwealth ACC provisions and NSW legal structures. The main interaction drivers are: (a) interpretive displacement (use of Commonwealth Acts Interpretation Act), (b) procedural and substantive transfer of Commonwealth rules to State offences (ss 14-16), (c) regulatory gatekeeping by NSW that can carve out or modify the applied provisions (s 6, s 15(3)), and (d) transitional validation to ensure continuity from the NCA regime (Schedule 2). For practitioners, the immediate implication is the need to consult Commonwealth ACC materials, NSW regulations under this Act, and Schedule 2 when determining the applicable legal regime.

The Act as presented contains only a small recorded amendment flag and several repeals and consequential changes reflected in the text and schedules. The specific, source-stated amendment history to note:

• Section 19: The text carries an annotation "s 19: Am 2006 No 94, Sch 3.1." This indicates that the provision authorising administrative arrangements to make State officers available to the ACC was amended in 2006 by Act No 94, Schedule 3.1. The Act text as provided includes the amended s 19; the annotation signals the legislative change but the source here does not reproduce the earlier, pre-amendment text for comparison.

• Repeals: Section 23 expressly repeals the National Crime Authority (State Provisions) Act 1984 No 157 and the National Crime Authority (State Provisions) Regulation 2000. Later in the text, Schedule 1 is annotated as repealed "sch 1: Rep 2005 No 64, Sch 3." Section 24 is marked as repealed ("s 24: Rep 2005 No 64, Sch 3."). Those entries show consequential housekeeping and removal of earlier schedules and provisions that were superseded by subsequent amending instruments. The exact scope of Schedule 1 prior to its repeal is not contained in the present text.

• Schedule 2 includes transposition and validation clauses that reflect the Act’s implementation and the need to carry forward actions taken under the repealed NCA (State Provisions) Act. Clause 12 gives effect to the Cooperative Schemes (Administrative Actions) Act 2001 in relation to administrative actions taken under the repealed NCA Act, and clause 13 contemplates regulations to give further savings or transitional effect consequent on enactment.

• Review mechanism: Section 26 requires the Minister to review the Act five years after assent and to table a report within 12 months after the end of that five-year period. The presence of this review requirement is a statutory trigger for Parliament to reconsider the Act, but the source does not record whether the review was completed or whether subsequent amendments followed from it.

What the source does not provide

• The source text does not list any other specific amending Acts (beyond the 2006 note at s 19 and the repeal notes for s 24 and sch 1). The text does not record any later amendments, regulatory changes under s 6, or the content of regulations made under s 22. For a full legislative history one must consult the consolidated legislation database or the NSW Parliamentary counsel’s version that records dates of assent and subsequent amendments, and inspect the regulations and any disallowance history.

Practical consequence

• Because the Act delegates regulatory modification power (s 6) and contemplates that certain Commonwealth amendments may be specified as not in effect under the applied provisions (s 6(2)), current practice can differ from the plain text of the ACC Act. Therefore practitioners and compliance officers should verify the up-to-date consolidated version of the Act and check the regulations made under it, including any s 6 modifications and any triggers from the s 26 review that led to further amendments.

The Act text provided contains no references to judicial decisions, appeals or litigated interpretations. The statute names federal and State judicial officers and references to powers (for example, s 12’s treatment of federal judicial officers), but the Act does not cite or record any cases applying its provisions.

What the Act itself indicates about litigation risk

• The Act makes offences under applied provisions to be treated as if they are Commonwealth offences for many legal purposes (s 14-15). That legal design opens potential litigation points around: (a) whether a particular conduct falls within the "relevant criminal activity" mapping in s 5(1); (b) whether a given Commonwealth law invoked by s 15 applies in a particular instance or has been displaced by an NSW regulation under s 6 or s 15(3); and (c) procedural questions arising out of the use of Commonwealth examiners, warrants, or other ACC mechanisms in NSW. Such questions are logical candidates for litigation, although no cases are supplied in the source.

Absence of cited cases in the statute

• Because the statutory text does not cite case law, a reader cannot rely on the Act alone to understand how courts have interpreted its key phrases, such as "as nearly as practicable" in s 16(2), the scope of "relevant Commonwealth laws" in s 15(1), how the interpretive displacement under s 7 interacts with NSW statutory concepts, or the practical limits of s 11(1)’s constraint about exceeding State legislative power.

Recommended practitioner step

• Where litigation is foreseeable (for example in contested warrant applications, disputes over the validity of an ACC examiner’s direction, or double jeopardy contentions under s 17), counsel should review the consolidated legislation, regulations (including any s 6 instruments), and then undertake targeted legal research to identify any cases interpreting the ACC Act as applied in NSW. The Act itself flags multiple areas ripe for judicial consideration, but the source provides no litigation history to summarise.

The Act contains several features that can produce practical traps if overlooked. These are not normative conclusions but direct consequences of textual choices and the statutory design.

1. Applied provisions are Commonwealth texts read into State law; interpretive regime changes (s 7)

• The application of the Commonwealth Acts Interpretation Act 1901 to the applied provisions means ordinary NSW rules about construction, time computation, and other interpretive presumptions (from the Interpretation Act 1987) do not apply to the applied provisions. Practitioners must apply Commonwealth interpretive rules to ACC provisions operating in NSW. Failure to do so could produce mistaken readings of time limits, jurisdictional words, or statutory presumptions.

2. Offences may be treated as Commonwealth offences and not State offences (s 15(2))

• For an offence under an applied provision, s 15(2) provides that it is to be treated as an offence against the laws of the Commonwealth and not as an offence against State law. That has multiple procedural consequences, including which statutory sentencing and proceeds-of-crime frameworks apply, and which spent-convictions rules affect future civil rights. Ensure the applicable sentencing and record-keeping regimes are identified by reference to the Commonwealth laws given effect by s 15.

3. Regulations can selectively exclude Commonwealth amendments (s 6(2))

• The regulations can provide that specified Commonwealth amendments "had not taken effect" for the applied provisions. Absent careful checking of the NSW regulations made under s 6, a practitioner may assume a Commonwealth ACC amendment applies in NSW when it has been excluded; conversely, a change that appears to be in force nationally might not have been brought into effect in NSW.

4. Board consent may be required before functions are exercised (s 9)

• The conferral of a function is "subject to any provision of the ACC Act that requires the consent of the Board." If Board consent is required under the ACC Act for a function, that consent must be obtained before exercise in NSW. Failure to check consent requirements can render an action unauthorised.

5. Federal judicial officers act personally, not as a court (s 12)

• A federal judicial officer exercising applied-provision powers does so in a personal capacity and not as a court. Actions taken will therefore have a different institutional standing than court orders; practitioners should not assume they have the same procedural features as judicial orders in State or federal courts.

6. Double jeopardy protection is limited to the ACC Act overlap (s 17)

• Section 17 prevents punishment under the applied provisions where the person has been punished under the ACC Act for the same act. It does not address punishment under unrelated Commonwealth or State offences that are not the ACC Act or applied provisions. The protection is specific and limited; avoid overbroad assumptions.

7. Transitional validation may hide historic constraints (Schedule 2)

• Schedule 2 validates various NCA-era directions, notations, seized things and secrecy obligations. Those legacy instruments may still bind persons but may not be obvious without examining Schedule 2 closely. In particular, secrecy obligations may extend to "former officials" as if they had been covered by the applied provisions (sch 2 cl 11). Practitioners handling disclosure must check these saved obligations.

8. Conferral of functions does not impose duties beyond State legislative power (s 11)

• Section 11(1) expressly states the Part does not purport to impose a duty on a Commonwealth body if that imposition would be beyond the State Parliament’s legislative power. That can create a situation where a function is nominally conferred by the Act but practically ungranted because of constitutional limits; do not assume the State can compel Commonwealth action in every circumstance.

9. Who pays and resourcing are left to arrangements (s 19)

• The Act authorises arrangements to make State personnel available to the ACC, but the Act does not itself allocate funding. The financial and administrative terms will be in separate arrangements. Practitioners and agency finance officers must ensure arrangements address costs, supervision, and liability.

10. Regulatory and administrative gaps require cross-referencing multiple instruments

• To determine the operative rules for a particular investigation, a practitioner must consult the ACC Act and its subordinate instruments, the NSW applied provisions as modified by regulations under this Act (s 6), Schedule 2 transitional provisions, and any specific administrative arrangements under ss 18-19. Missing any one of these components can lead to incorrect advice about powers, immunities, and liabilities.

Being alert to these points avoids procedural missteps and ensures correct mapping of which statutory rules apply in a particular operational or litigation context.

Compliance under this hybrid federal-State regime is largely about mapping applicable texts, securing necessary consents, observing secrecy and procedural rules, and managing resource and contractual arrangements when State personnel are made available to the ACC. The following practical steps, grounded in the Act, set out how agencies, officers, legal advisers and private parties should proceed.

1. Identify whether the ACC Act provisions apply to your matter (s 3, s 5)

• Determine if the conduct falls within "relevant criminal activities" as defined by the applied provisions. Section 5(1) recharacterises references to "federally relevant criminal activity" as references to relevant criminal activity in so far as the serious and organised crime is, or includes, an offence against State law. If the conduct constitutes such an offence, the ACC laws (as modified) may apply.

2. Check which Commonwealth ACC provisions and subordinate instruments are applied, and whether NSW regulations modify them (s 6)

• The regulations may modify the ACC laws for the Act’s purposes and may specify that particular Commonwealth amendments do not take effect in NSW (s 6(2)). Before acting on any particular ACC provision (for example, an ACC examiner power, a warrant provision, or a direction-making provision), consult the text of the ACC Act, its regulations, and the NSW regulations under this Act to see whether they are in force in NSW and whether any modification applies.

3. Apply Commonwealth interpretive rules to applied provisions (s 7)

• When construing the applied provisions, use the Commonwealth Acts Interpretation Act 1901. The NSW Interpretation Act 1987 does not apply to the applied provisions (s 7(2)). That affects computation of time limits, privileges, and presumptions; ensure counsel uses the correct interpretive approach.

4. Ascertain Board consent requirements under the ACC Act (s 9)

• If an ACC provision requires Board consent before a function is performed, ensure the consent has been obtained. Section 9 preserves the ACC Act’s internal consent regime; failure to secure required consent can render acts unauthorised.

5. If State officers or NSW Police are to be made available, ensure arrangements are properly documented (s 19)

• Section 19 permits the Minister to make arrangements under which State officers, employees or NSW Police members are made available to perform services for the ACC. Any secondment or service provision should be documented in a written arrangement that specifies the scope of duties, supervision, liability, costs, reporting lines, duration, and whether the officer remains subject to State employment rules. Consider including clear governance, indemnity and FOI/access obligations.

6. For agencies providing information to the Board, conclude arrangements under s 18

• Section 18 authorises arrangements for the Board to be given information or intelligence by the State or its authorities. Data-sharing arrangements should be captured in written agreements that address security, secrecy obligations, permitted use, and retention, consistent with Schedule 2’s saved secrecy rules where relevant.

7. Observe secrecy and former-official obligations in Schedule 2 (sch 2 cl 11)

• Schedule 2 extends secrecy obligations to former officials and preserves NCA-era secrecy measures. Ensure staff who previously worked under the NCA regime and those currently involved are briefed on continuing disclosure constraints and the applicable confidentiality framework.

8. Be aware of double jeopardy limits (s 17)

• If a person has been punished under the ACC Act for the relevant act, do not seek additional punishment under the applied provisions. Counsel should check whether prior punishment under the ACC Act covers the same conduct before initiating proceedings under an applied provision.

9. Ensure judicial roles and protections are clear where federal judicial officers are engaged (s 12)

• If an ACC function requires a federal judicial officer’s participation, confirm whether the officer is acting personally (as s 12 contemplates) and ensure any orders or certificates required are in the proper form, recognising that such acts are effective via the applied provisions and not by implication as acts of a court.

10. For defence and compliance counsel, check applicable procedural law for trials and sentencing (s 14-15)

• Because the Act directs that relevant Commonwealth laws apply as laws of the State in relation to applied-provision offences, counsel must determine which sentencing and criminal procedure rules are applicable, and ensure clients are advised about potential differences in pre-trial procedure, admissibility, sentencing ranges, and proceeds-of-crime regimes when a matter is being handled under the ACC framework.

11. Consult the consolidated statute and regulations and document reasoning

• Given that s 6 allows regulation-based modification, comply by checking the current consolidated version of the Act, the regulations under it, the ACC Act and the Commonwealth subordinate instruments referenced. Keep a documented legal-mapping: note which provisions were relied on, the precise statutory text, and any regulations or arrangements that affect operation.

12. If engaged in cross-border or multi-jurisdictional practice, track federal/state overlaps and constitutional limits (s 11)

• Recognise s 11(1)’s statement that the Part does not purport to impose duties beyond the State Parliament’s legislative power. When coordinating between State and Commonwealth actors, ensure any extrajurisdictional demands are reviewed against constitutional and statutory limits and that arrangements contain clear responsibility and liability allocations.

Practical checklist for operations and internal compliance

• Before an ACC-driven investigation touches State personnel or records, ensure written arrangements under ss 18-19 exist and are current.
• For any warrant, examiners' summons or coercive power, identify the applied provision's version and any NSW modifications.
• Maintain confidentiality protocols reflecting Schedule 2 obligations.
• If a question arises about whether a Commonwealth amendment applies, check whether a NSW regulation specified its non-application under s 6(2).

These steps align compliance with the Act’s text: the Act imports Commonwealth instruments, allows NSW to modify their local operation by regulation, and creates intergovernmental arrangements without itself specifying operational details like funding or secondment terms. Compliance therefore requires careful statutory mapping and robust administrative arrangements.