Teen terror threat grows as string of Australian youths charged over extremist and terrorism offences

Children as young as 13 are being investigated over terrorism-related offences as a growing number of teenagers are accused of possessing extremist material, sharing violent content and planning acts of violence.

In the past three months alone, teenagers in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, the Northern Territory and the ACT have faced terrorism-related or violent extremist material charges.

The most recent figures from the Australian Federal Police reveal children account for 19 of the 32 people charged under Australia’s violent extremist material laws since the offences were introduced in 2024.

The latest case emerged last week when a 13-year-old Maryborough boy was charged with possessing violent extremist material and allegedly planning to cause death or grievous bodily harm after counter-terrorism investigators examined an electronic device seized during a search warrant.

Days earlier, the AFP charged a 16-year-old Darwin boy with multiple offences relating to the alleged possession and transmission of violent extremist material promoting nationalist ideology.

In Canberra, a 17-year-old boy recently became the first person charged with planning a terrorist act in the ACT after investigators alleged he was preparing an attack motivated by nationalist and racist extremism.

Other recent matters include two teenage boys charged in Moree, a Melbourne teenager accused of collecting ISIS-related terrorism material, a Sydney teenager accused of possessing violent extremist material and preparing documents linked to terrorism, and a Gold Coast boy charged with possessing violent extremist material.

The string of arrests follows repeated warnings from Australia’s intelligence and law enforcement agencies that youth radicalisation is becoming an increasingly significant national security concern.

Peta Lowe, the former NSW Juvenile Justice director of countering violent extremism, said several factors were driving the high proportion of children being charged under the new offences.

“We’re starting to look for these offences in places where children spend lots of their time,” she said.

“Once you start looking for something, you see more of it.”

But she said there had also been an increase in the detection of young people involved in extremist groups online, driven by changes in both recruitment methods and the law itself.

Ms Lowe said groups such as Islamic State had spent years decentralising their recruitment models, removing many of the traditional barriers that once limited young people’s involvement.

“The things that were prohibitive to children and young people engaging before, like being able to travel somewhere for training, are no longer part of the landscape,” she said.

She said modern terrorism laws now captured conduct more commonly seen among adolescents, including possessing extremist material, pledging allegiance to extremist groups and engaging in preparatory acts before any attack occurred.

“The offences have changed,” she said.

“It’s no longer an offence to do an act. It can be active preparation, it can be possession of material, it can be pledging allegiance to or belonging to a group.”

Ms Lowe also pointed to the long-term effects of the pandemic, saying COVID pushed many vulnerable young people into online environments where there was less supervision and fewer protective influences.

“We sent many more marginalised children into online places where there was less real-time supervision and monitoring,” she said.

“You’re safer to assume that that a young person has seen extremist material online than that they haven’t.

“It is so prolifically shared in all sorts of spaces and places.”

Ms Lowe, who now advises governments and international organisations on youth radicalisation and violent extremism, said radicalisation was no longer confined to specialist extremist forums.

Young people were confronted with extremist narratives through social media platforms, encrypted messaging applications and gaming communities where the symbols, language and content had become normalised.

“The question is, where aren’t they now?” she said.

“Instagram, Snapchat, Discord, Reddit, TikTok, WhatsApp, Telegram, YouTube — it’s out there.”

Ms Lowe said radicalisation no longer required face-to-face contact with an extremist recruiter.

She said for young people, meeting online is “meeting in real life” and older generations had been slow to grasp just how influential and immersive those environments had become.

“I think that’s been to the detriment of children and young people in this space, because they experience online life the same as they experience in real life,” she said.

“It is all, to them, an experience of life, and for policy makers and lawmakers, unfortunately, we’ve seen them as two very separate spaces and fields.

Ms Lowe said many extremist groups succeeded because they offered certainty, belonging and significance to young people experiencing uncertainty about their future.

“For a lot of young people, it starts with a feeling like ‘I don’t belong, like I’m never going to amount to anything’,” she said.

“Every single extremist group offers certainty, offers clarity around how you will be significant.”

She said adolescence itself was one of the strongest risk factors because it was the period when young people naturally began questioning beliefs and forming their own identities.

“The major vulnerability is their developmental stage,” she said.

Deakin University extremism expert Greg Barton said the increase in teen cases was real and reflected a growing ability for extremist recruiters and influencers to reach young people online.

“It’s certainly increasing. There’s no question,” he said.

“We saw Islamic State in particular focus on this 15-odd years ago and it’s been a growing trend ever since.

“If one extremist group sees a certain kind of recruitment works, then they’ll copy it.”

Professor Barton said extremist groups targeted teenagers because of their vulnerabilities and unprecedented accessibility.

“It’s always been the case that young people and teenagers have been vulnerable, but there’s an accessibility and sense of vulnerability for teenagers that wasn’t there in years past,” he said.

“Decades ago you were told not to speak to strangers in the park or at the train station.

“Well, now they’re in your bedroom chatting in your e-gaming forum.”

He said social media had created opportunities for recruitment on a scale that had not previously existed.

“Child exploitation is not a new thing, but this kind of vulnerability to recruitment through social media is unfortunately something that is much more ubiquitous than was ever the case in the past,” he said.

“It (radicalisation) quite commonly has on and offline elements, but it can entirely be online.”

While extremist movements often appeared ideologically different, Professor Barton said many young people were not initially drawn in by political or religious beliefs.

“It’s the sense of friendship and belonging that is the drawing point,” he said.

“That’s where people start to feel that they’ve been heard, they’re understood, they have somebody who recognises them.”

He said many teenagers were seeking connection, acceptance and recognition, with extremist groups exploiting those needs before introducing ideological narratives.

The AFP has repeatedly warned that online radicalisation is accelerating.

AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett told Senate Estimates in February that Joint Counter Terrorism Teams had charged 26 youths with terrorism-type offences since 2020.

“Too many influences and influencers are poisoning the minds of our kids and the vulnerable,” Commissioner Barrett said.

She also warned authorities were increasingly encountering lone actors who were being radicalised rapidly online.

“It used to take months or years to radicalise an individual, but now, in some cases, it is happening within days,” she said last month.

ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess has similarly warned young people are playing an increasingly prominent role in Australia’s terrorism caseload.

“Around twenty per cent of ASIO’s priority counter-terrorism cases involve young people,” he said in a joint Five Eyes statement.

“In every one of the terrorist attacks, disruptions and suspected terrorist incidents in Australia this year, the alleged perpetrator was a young person.”