In August 1973, the New South Wales Government appointed Mr Justice Moffitt to head the Commission.
It was set up to address public and media concerns about the growing extent of organised crime in NSW and to investigate specific allegations that the Bally poker machine company now Bally Technologies, -- which was allegedly linked to the Mafia in the United States—was seeking to expand its interests in Australia, and that this might act as a conduit for Mafia-style organised crime to develop and diversify in Australia.
Other notable witnesses included career criminal Lenny McPherson, the man typically referred to as Sydney's "Mr Big".
Shortly before his death, Justice Moffitt revealed that McPherson (who had since died) had been a paid informant to the Commission.
[3] In his final report, handed down in 1974, Justice Moffitt found there was a real danger that organised crime from overseas would infiltrate Australia.