The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) is responsible for the conduct of prosecutions for offences against the laws of the Commonwealth and for the conduct of criminal confiscation action in relation to such offences. The CDPP has a long-standing practice in the prosecution of the importation of illicit substances, frauds on the Commonwealth (including tax and social security frauds), corporate fraud and money laundering. The CDPP has prosecuted these matters, as well as a range of other matters from fisheries offences to immigration offences, since its establishment. These matters have long formed the backbone of prosecuting Commonwealth offending.
Commonwealth law has significantly expanded in the last decade to include a range of offences not previously known to Commonwealth law. The CDPP is now prosecuting a range of other offences including counter-terrorism offences, people trafficking offences, child sex tourism and online child sexual exploitation offences.
Commonwealth offending can often involve very large and complex briefs of evidence which may take significant time and expertise to consider. In this way, prosecuting is not limited to litigation itself. Rather, prosecuting includes a range of other work such as preparing cases for hearing, providing legal advice and assistance to investigators, assessing evidence, drafting charges, and settling applications for warrants. For many years, the CDPP has delivered high quality legal advice on very complex matters, for example, in the area of tax fraud and corporate fraud.