Australia’s National Terrorism Threat Level reduced to POSSIBLE

On 28 November 2022, the National Terrorism Threat Level was lowered to POSSIBLE. The environment has evolved since 2014, when the national terrorism threat level was raised to PROBABLE.

Lowering the threat level does not mean the threat of terrorism is extinguished. Radicalisation and capability building is ongoing, and Australia remains a terrorist target.

The factors that contributed to raising it in 2014 no longer exist, or they persist to a lesser degree. Australia’s national arrangements to counter terrorism have also contributed to this shift. Within our onshore counter-terrorism investigations, ASIO are seeing a reduction in the number of Religiously Motivated Violent Extremists (RMVE) holding an intention to undertake an attack. While some RMVEs aspire to undertake attacks here, most of them currently have limited intent to act.

 The Nationalist and Racist Violent Extremist (NRVE) threat persists, after an upward tick in 2019. NRVEs in Australia are not a new phenomenon; we have been providing advice on them for decades. Established NRVE groups are more likely to focus on capability building, recruitment and radicalisation, rather than attack planning.

The National Terrorism Threat Advisory System guides national preparation and planning. It also dictates levels of precaution and vigilance to minimise the risk of a terrorist incident occurring. The Australian Government regularly reviews alert levels.

 Stay up to date by monitoring the National Security website – https://www.nationalsecurity.gov.au/national-threat-level/current-national-terrorism-threat-level