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International terrorism

Terrorism continues to feature in world news, as political, ethnic, religious and cultural conflicts in different countries and regions find expression in violence. Militant extremist groups of various persuasions - religious as well as political - view terrorism as a legitimate means of publicising their beliefs and making political demands. Some of these groups are well enough resourced to view the whole world as their theatre of operations.

As well as the major international terrorist organisations, which make no secret of their use of violence, there are now more instances of individuals and splinter groups acting outside established terrorist frameworks. This increases the unpredictability of attacks and widens the arena for staging them.

ASIO plays a key role in Australia’s counter terrorism defences, not only by contributing security intelligence but also by contributing to policy development and taking part in training exercises coordinated by the National Counter-Terrorism Committee (NCTC). In the event of a terrorist incident in Australia, ASIO would be called upon to provide security intelligence about the terrorists and their methods of operation to the police and other authorities.