Media Release

Media release from Senator, the Hon Amanda Vanstone, Minister for Justice and Customs

Art crime

2 December 1999

Minister for Justice and Customs, Senator Amanda Vanstone, today warned that art was becoming a lucrative market for criminals.

Senator Vanstone was speaking at an Art Crime Conference in Sydney.

"Fine art is an increasingly important industry in its own right and Australians now spend hundreds of millions of dollars a year on art - in 1996/97 it was $524 million," Senator Vanstone said.

"As the art market has grown, so to have the risks for buyers and dealers, as criminals begin to realise that money can be made in the theft and forgery of art or as a vehicle to hide the proceeds of other crimes."

"Some estimates put the illegal art trade at anywhere between US$500 million and US$7.5 billion a year - in criminal terms, behind only drugs and guns."

Senator Vanstone said there were three key concerns regarding art and criminality: theft, forgery and money laundering."

The scale of art theft, with reports of stolen art tripling since the 1970s, is reason enough to be concerned about art crime," Senator Vanstone said.

"Australia has certainly had its fair share of art theft, including the 1977 heist of the entire exhibition of 28 paintings by Grace Cossington Smith being stolen from a Melbourne gallery; 10 paintings worth more than half-a-million dollars stolen from a Sydney gallery and the 1995 heist of 30 Hans Heysens in Adelaide."

"Naturally, law enforcement has an important role to play through border controls and the investigation of reported theft."

"But the industry itself also has an important role to play. The development in 1991 of the Art Loss Register, the largest private database of stolen art in the world, is one important way this is being done. Ensuring wide publicity of stolen items is another way of reducing the item's value, making it less attractive to the black-market."

"In Australia, fraud and forgery are considered the biggest danger, because of the potential impact they can have on the reputation of the industry and individuals involved in it."

"There appears to be some sympathy for collectors who sell art work that they know is fake. But we should not fool ourselves. This is fraud and carries serious penalties."

"Forgery, particularly in relation to indigenous art, is also a serious concern. Indigenous art is an industry worth $60 million a year. Because of the diversity of the industry, with some pieces being highly valuable and others inexpensive, the potential for fakes is high."

"Again, the industry itself has a key role to play here and I am pleased that this is happening through the National Indigenous Arts Advocacy Association which has developed a system of labels that buyers will be able to use to confirm the authenticity of art work."

"Recent reports of prosecutions, such as the alleged forgeries of Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri paintings, serve as a strong warning."

"Art is also potentially attractive to the money launderer because it is an active market with no cash reporting requirements at the moment. This is highlighted by a recent case in which art purchases were used to launder the proceeds of drug importations."

"We need to remember that forgery and fraud, as well as the theft of art are crimes and the use of art to launder the proceeds of organized crime should be a concern to us all."

"Combating this crime requires cooperation. The art community, law enforcement agencies and governments must all play a role."

"We should not allow art to become a refuge for criminal organisations who wish to launder money."

"We are proud of our artists. Art helps define who we are. Few professions give more than they get - that's generally true of artists if not their offspring."

"We need to support our artists and be aware of the risks that they and their buyers face."

References

• Conference: Art Crime
• Media release: Art Crime Conference (29 Nov 1999)