During the early 1970's and into the 1980's, five major inquiries into organized crime in Australia were conducted, leading to the enactment of the Federal National Crime Authority Act in 1984. This act specified offenses of 'organized crime' as those involving two or more offenders, substantial planning and organization, the use of sophisticated methods, and ordinarily committed in conjunction with other offenses of a like kind. There are no generally accepted data available for public scrutiny which indicate the prevalence of organized crime in Australia. The source purporting to provide the most information on the nature and scope of organized crime in recent years is the Royal Commission on the Activities of the Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union (the Costigan Commission). The majority of the commission's findings, however, are concealed from the public. The commission reports, however, on organized sophisticated criminal activities in the areas of tax fraud, extortion, theft, bookmaking, and drug trafficking. The establishment of the NCA was a principal outgrowth of the commission's report. This national body is vested with formidable investigative powers and resources to combat organized crime throughout Australia. Some criticisms of the NCA are its susceptibility to political control, its secrecy, and the inadequacy of its powers. 84 footnotes and 7 references.