Australia's official terror alert level has been raised to "probable" for the first time in a decade amid heightened community tensions and the war in Gaza. Security authorities believe the chance of a violent extremist act is now more likely, than when authorities lowered the alert level to "possible" in November 2022. The Prime Minister has pointed to an increase in radicalisation, while the ASIO boss has described Australia's security environment as 'volatile' and 'unpredictable.'
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00:00The advice that we've received is that more Australians are embracing a more diverse range
00:07of extreme ideologies and it is our responsibility to be vigilant.
00:14To be clear, this is the same threat level that was in place in Australia for more than
00:21eight years before it was lowered in November of 2022.
00:26At that time we said as a government this does not mean that the threat from terrorism
00:31is extinguished.
00:34Since then we've seen a global rise in politically motivated violence and extremism.
00:41Many democracies are working to address this, including our friends in the United States
00:46and in the United Kingdom.
00:48There are many things driving this global trend towards violence.
00:53Governments around the world are concerned about youth radicalisation, online radicalisation
00:59and the rise of new mixed ideologies.
01:03My government respects our intelligence agencies.
01:06We listen to their advice and we act on their advice and that is what we are doing today.
01:12You've heard me say many times that espionage and foreign interference are our principal
01:16security concerns.
01:18ASIO's intelligence suggests that is no longer accurate.
01:23While the threats to our way of life remain elevated, we are seeing an increase in extremism.
01:28More Australians are being radicalised and radicalised more quickly.
01:33More Australians are embracing a more diverse range of extreme ideologies and more Australians
01:38are willing to use violence to advance their cause.
01:42Politically motivated violence now joins espionage and foreign interference as our principal
01:46security concerns.
01:48These factors make ASIO's job more difficult.
01:52The threats are becoming harder to predict and identify.
01:55The drivers of radicalisation, grievance, extremism are growing and interacting in ways
02:01we've not seen before, creating a security climate that's very different to the one
02:05existed when we last raised the threat level.