New laws to stop ‘home grown’ terrorism
The 2005 London bombings were a devastating reminder that terrorism can be 'home grown'.
With this in mind, the Australian Government in consultation with Australia’s States and Territories passed new anti-terrorism laws in mid-December 2005. These included amendments to Commonwealth legislation that enable Australia to better deter and prevent potential acts of terrorism at home, to prosecute when they occur, and to restrict the movement of those who pose a terrorist threat to the community.
Australia’s ability to curtail terrorist organisations has also been expanded to include organisations which advocate terrorism.
Australia is now served by a complementary suite of anti-terrorism legislation enacted through Part 5.3 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 which addresses:
- Defining terrorism (Division 100)
- Terrorist acts (Division 101)
- Terrorist organisations (Division 102)
- Terrorism financing (Division 103)
- Terrorism prevention - Control Orders (Division 104)
- Terrorism prevention & mitigation - Preventative Detention Orders (Division 105)
The AFP works with State and Territory police forces in Joint Counter Terrorism Teams. These teams work closely with other domestic agencies, the intelligence community and international partners to identify and investigate any activities in Australia which may be linked to terrorism.
Control orders
Under Division 104 of the Criminal Code, the AFP has primary responsibility for monitoring and administering control orders with close cooperation from Intelligence agencies, State and Territory police, and other relevant departments and agencies.
Control orders, which must be issued by a Court, allow obligations, prohibitions and restrictions to be imposed on a person for the purpose of protecting the public from a terrorist threat, especially in circumstances where the prosecution of the person may not be possible. The obligations, prohibitions and restrictions which may be placed on a person include those relating to:
- being at specific areas or places
- accessing or using specific forms of technology
- communicating or associating with specific individuals
- remaining at specified premises between specified times each day
- wearing a tracking device
- reporting to specified persons at specified times and places.
Preventative Detention Orders
Under Division 105 of the Criminal Code, the AFP may arrange to make a Preventative Detention Order which allows a person to be taken into custody and detained for a short period of time in order to either prevent an imminent terrorist act occurring or preserve evidence of, or relating to, a recent terrorist act.
Legislation enacted by each State jurisdiction across Australia also supports the making of State Preventative Detention Orders which may be used either independently of or as a complement to Commonwealth Preventative Detention Orders.
Significant Partnerships and Results
Counter Terrorism contributes to safeguarding Australia’s national security, in particular to combat the threat of terrorism, through a whole of government approach, facilitated by national and international cooperation, coordination and collaborative working arrangements.
Counter Terrorism investigations in Australia and offshore rely on close cooperative and collaborative arrangements with International, Forensic and Data Centres, Intelligence, Legal, High Tech Crime Operations and Economic to achieve shared business outcomes.
Investigations and prosecutions also rely on partnerships with our Commonwealth, State law enforcement and security agencies and as a result of the success of these partnerships a significant number of people have been charged and prosecuted with a range of terrorist offences.
What you can do
The National Security website is the Australian Government’s portal on national security issues. It includes:
- security advice
- legislation
- community information
- travel information.
- media releases
- a national security hotline.
More information
- A report on the Council of Australian Governments' Special Meeting on Counter-Terrorism, 27 September 2005 (PDF, 54kb)
- National Security website
Contact
| Report information regarding terrorist activity in Australia | National Security Hotline | Ph: 1800 123 400 |