Australia Establishes Online Counter-Terrorism Hub, Seeks Five Eyes Collaboration on Threat Levels
Australia has launched a Counter Terrorism Online Centre in Sydney, a joint initiative between ASIO and the Australian Federal Police, to monitor online radicalization and terrorism threats. This new intelligence hub will serve as a single entry point for overseas agencies to share information on potential national security threats originating online. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke is set to be briefed on an overhaul of Australia's threat level rating system, with the hope that all Five Eyes countries—Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, and New Zealand—will adopt similar methods for recording threat levels. Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett noted that the nation is facing 'terrorism 2.0,' emphasizing that traditional counter-terrorism lessons may not apply to the rapid shift in the online threat environment. The federal government allocated $74 million in May's budget to establish this center.
