Australias-Counter-Terrorism-Strategy-2015

EXECUTIVESUMMARYIn September 2014, for the first time,Australia’s National Terrorism Public AlertLevel was raised to High. This reflected thejudgement of the Australian SecurityIntelligence Organisation (ASIO) that aterrorist attack was likely. The heightenedthreat level is likely to endure.Australian governments are proactivelydealing with the threat. We are working withour international partners and with theAustralian community to lower the risk of aterrorist attack and strengthen our ability torespond to, and recover from, any attack.The purpose of releasing this Strategy is toprovide information to the community on thethreat Australia faces and what we are doingto counter it. Importantly, it highlights thecommunity’s role in preventing, preparing for,responding to and recovering from a terroristattack.This Strategy sets out the framework forAustralia’s counter-terrorism arrangements. Itsituates the current terrorism threat withinthe global context and articulates how we arecountering it. It sits above and iscomplemented by the NationalCounter-Terrorism Plan; an important resourcethat outlines governance and jurisdictionalarrangements and operational responsibilitiesfor preventing, preparing, responding to andrecovering from domestic terrorist attacks.Our Strategy is based on the followingprinciples:• Protecting lives is the absolutepriority.• Governments and the communitymust face the challenge of terrorismtogether.• Terrorist acts are crimes to be dealtwith through the criminal justicesystem.Terrorism and AustraliaGlobally, ISIL, AQ and associated groupsrepresent the most significant terrorist threat.These groups are motivated by a selective,violent and extreme interpretation of Islam.Such an interpretation is alien to theoverwhelming majority of Muslims.Though ISIL is the most threateningmanifestation of this terrorist threat, AQ andsome associated groups retain the intent andcapability to mount major attacks.ISIL, in particular, exerts a direct influence inAustralia through its aggressive promotion ofviolent extremism. This group’s violentideology, persuasive propaganda, and itsgrooming of young people online is directlyresponsible for the radicalisation to violentextremism of a significant number ofindividuals in our community. As a directflow-on result, there is now a higher risk ofattacks by individuals or by small groups thanever before.Violent extremist influences in Australia willbe exacerbated by foreign fighters seeking toreturn from conflict zones in the Middle East.Some of these foreign fighters will seek toreturn with the skills, experience and apredisposition to violent action that will makethem a significant risk to the community.v | AUSTRALIA’S COUNTER-TERRORISM STRATEGY