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Australians lost a record three billion dollars to scammers last year, with the average victim forking out $20,000 for every con recorded by authorities.

Scammers pocketed at least $3.1b in 2022 according to the latest Targeting Scams report, an 80 per cent increase on total losses recorded from the year before.

"Australians lost more money to scams than ever before in 2022, but the true cost of scams is much more than a dollar figure as they also cause emotional distress to victims, their families and businesses," Australian Competition and Consumer Commission deputy chair Catriona Lowe said.

The report used data reported to the ACCC's Scamwatch, ReportCyber, the Australian Financial Crimes Exchange, IDCARE and other government agencies.

Scamwatch received 239,237 scam reports last year with financial losses totalling more than $569 million, a 76 per cent increase compared to losses reported in the previous year.

Average losses experienced by victims in 2022 rose by more than 50 per cent to almost $20,000.

The rise is due in part to scammers using increasingly sophisticated technology and techniques to lure and deceive victims.

"We have seen alarming new tactics emerge which make scams incredibly difficult to detect," Ms Lowe said.

"This includes everything from impersonating official phone numbers, email addresses and websites of legitimate organisations to scam texts that appear in the same conversation thread as genuine messages.

"Many Australians are losing their life savings."

Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones said banks needed to do more to combat the number of scams being carried out, with the consumer watchdog working with banks to set up a code of practice for the institutions.

"We set a bar very high about what banks are expected to do to protect their customers in relation to scams, to ensure that money is kept safe, that the customers' details are kept safe, so consumers know what to expect from their banks," he told ABC TV on Monday.

"Increasing the fines and penalties has to be a part of the options that we put in place."

An explosion of reported losses to phishing scams, where victims are lured into believing the scammer is a relative or financial institution, skyrocketed by 469 per cent to $24.6m in 2022.

Investment scams were the highest loss category ($1.5b), followed by remote access scams ($229m) and payment redirection scams ($224m).

Mr Jones said keeping a track of the scams was like a game of whack-a-mole.

"What we're seeing is scammers moving to an industrial scale, using new technologies, new capacity, to attack Australian households and businesses," he said.

"A lot more needs to be done to be combating this."

Millions of Australians became more vulnerable to scams in 2022, following a spate of large-scale and high-profile data breaches late last year.

Ms Lowe said there were hundreds of reports to Scamwatch in the weeks after the data breaches, including reports of scammers impersonating government departments and businesses to carry out identity theft and remote access scams.

Indigenous Australians also reported losses of $5.1m to Scamwatch (up five per cent on 2021), while the median loss for Indigenous Australian scam victims rose to $754, from $650 reported in 2021.

People from culturally and linguistically diverse communities made 11,418 scam reports which resulted in losses of $56m, up 36 per cent compared to 2021.

© AAP 2023

An independent inquiry into how police, prosecutors and a victim's support service handled former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins' rape allegations is set to hold its first public hearing.

The inquiry was established by the ACT government last year after allegations were made by the director of public prosecutions (DPP) and police forces about each other's conduct during the high-profile case.

Ms Higgins' former colleague Bruce Lehrmann faced an ACT Supreme Court trial in October, but it was derailed due to juror misconduct.

The charges against him were later dropped because of concerns about the impact a second trial would have on Ms Higgins' mental health.

Mr Lehrmann denies the allegation he raped Ms Higgins in Parliament House in 2019.

After the charges were dropped, it emerged ACT DPP Shane Drumgold had raised concerns about "political and police conduct" in the case.

But the police union hit back at the allegations and accused Mr Drumgold's office of compromising Mr Lehrmann's trial.

The territory government established the inquiry to ensure ACT criminal matters were prosecuted in a way that was robust, fair and respected the rights of those involved.

Former Queensland solicitor-general Walter Sofronoff was appointed head of the inquiry which will report back to the ACT government by June 30.

At an initial public hearing on Monday, Mr Sofronoff will outline the nature and scope of the inquiry which will examine the conduct of criminal justice agencies during Mr Lehrmann's trial.

The inquiry is expected to examine interactions between prosecutors and ACT Police regarding the charges against Mr Lehrmann as well as the decisions to go ahead with a first trial and then not proceed with a retrial.

It will also look at how the ACT Victims of Crime Commissioner - a support service for people who have experienced crime in the territory - assisted Ms Higgins.

© AAP 2023

Outspoken Senator Lidia Thorpe has been filmed during an early morning, expletive-laden altercation outside a Melbourne club.

The footage was captured on the footpath outside Maxine's Gentleman's Club at 3am on Sunday, with Senator Thorpe reportedly leaving a friends' 50th birthday celebration.

"You know what I say, to you, you know what I say to you and you ..." she said to a group of people outside the club, in the footage aired by Seven News.

"... small penis, small penis."

One of the men replied, "You're a racist dog".

Senator Thorpe was pulled away from the group by a companion, but she continued: "All I've got to say to the black brothers there and anyone that we're fighting".

"Any black man that stands with the f****** white little c*** like that, youse can all get f***** too."

Before the senator left the club, she appeared to pull out her mobile phone and start recording the men still lingering on the footpath.

"You, you are marked," she said.

Senator Thorpe issued a statement on Sunday night.

"It's sad people are using whatever they can to drag me down when we're trying to discuss important issues in this country," the statement read.

In March, Senator Thorpe was pulled to the ground by police after she attempted to intervene in a protest organised by anti-transgender activist Kellie-Jay Keen outside Parliament House in Canberra.

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© AAP 2023