Australia’s domestic terrorism threat level has been upgraded from possible to probable.
The threat level has been raised due to an increased risk of politically motivated violence amid heightened community tensions, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Monday.
Albanese confirmed the move following a National Security Committee meeting, saying it was not due to one specific incident.
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He said advice from the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation was more Australians were embracing a more diverse range of “extreme ideologies”.
“Probable does not mean inevitable, and it does not mean there is intelligence about an imminent threat or danger,” he said.
“It is our responsibility to be vigilant.”
ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess said the country’s security environment was “more volatile and more unpredictable”.
“More Australians are being radicalised and radicalised more quickly … and more Australians are willing to use violence to advance their cause,” he said.
“Politically motivated violence now joins espionage and foreign interference as our principal security concerns.”
Burgess said the alert upgrade was not caused by the war in Gaza, but acknowledged it was a “significant driver”.
“It’s driven more emotion and heat into society,” he said.
A “probable” terror rating means security officials believe “there is a greater than 50 per cent chance of an onshore attack or attack planning in the next 12 months”.
The country’s top security agency anticipates an increase in politically motivated violence with “little or no warning” as “polarisation, frustration and perceived injustices grow”.
The internet and social media played a role in driving radicalisation and extremism, and violence was now more common at protests, Burgess said.
He noted a large number of young people were being radicalised.
“Extremist ideologies, conspiracies, misinformation are flourishing in the online ecosystem and young Australians are particularly vulnerable,” he said.
Albanese agreed and said the upgrade had been driven by youth radicalisation, online radicalisation and the rise of “new mixed ideologies”.
“When the temperature of the security environment is rising, we must lower the temperature of debate,” he said.
“Because our words and our actions matter.”
Reassuring Australians, Burgess said they should be “aware but not afraid”.