Australia’s top cop warns nation’s threat environment ‘more complex’ almost a year on from Bondi attack

Australia’s top cop has warned the threat environment is “more complex” today almost a year on from our worst terror attack, as the country faces a volatile few months of “a lot of noise” and heightened emotions.

Krissy Barrett says terrorism will be a prevailing threat for Australia as it grapples with a deadly cocktail of growing political grievances, youth radicalisation and AI supercharged tech-enabled crime.

Marking one year since stepping into one of the nation’s most challenging roles, the Australian Federal Police Commissioner predicted her anti-terror and violent-extremism workload would “remain high”.

The massacre of 15 people at Bondi Beach less than two months into her five-year tenure has only solidified her urgency to boost capabilities.

While Ms Barrett had declared anti-Semitism, hate crimes and social cohesion would be “right at the top of the list” of priorities when Anthony Albanese announced her appointment last October, she described the attacks as an unforeseen atrocity.

Her focus at the time had been sharpened by what she described as a wave of “extreme views” and “increasing complexity” in Australia after the October 7, 2023 Hamas terror attack.

“The horrific events of Bondi is not something that anyone foresaw to that magnitude,” she said.

Ms Barrett had served as the counterterrorism assistant commissioner and national security deputy commissioner before being elevated into the top job.

Both had crystallised her view that on the first day in the role she would pivot the AFP from a law enforcement agency to a “national security agency”.

Ms Barrett admitted that some parts of the AFP had found the realignment a “culture shift”.

“That was a bit of a culture shift for the AFP or, for some parts of the AFP, but I was unequivocal and very, very clear that that’s where we needed to be,” she said.

“Post Bondi now, if I reflect back where we’re at in the threat environment and what we’ve been through in the last 12 months, (it) really consolidates and validates for me that those clear decisions I made at the very start of my commissionership were absolutely the right decisions for the organisation and for the Australian community.

“What we have seen in the environment since October 7 is just an increasing complexity and extreme views that has obviously contributed to the AFP’s work and made things harder for us.

“I’ve talked publicly about — as has Mike Burgess — that the art of respectful debate seems to be declining in this country.

“I mean, that was a big part of the national security investigations teams being stood up because I could see this gap around hate crimes, hate symbols and actions that were driving fear.

“All of that to say, the environment today is more complex even than it was a year ago. And as we continue, particularly the back end of this year, there is going to be a lot of noise.

“We’ve got the (Bondi) anniversary coming up. We should never ever forget . . . that 15 innocent people were killed in atrocious circumstances, and as we move through those anniversaries, emotions are high.”

Algorithm driving extremism

Ms Barrett said algorithms drawing people to extreme views online was “no doubt” a factor in the fraying social cohesion in Australia after the October 7 terror attacks in Israel.

She said it was concerning young Australians, particularly boys, were increasingly being sucked into the “deep dark depths of a really dangerous rabbit hole”.

“There’s no doubt that algorithms are a factor in what we’re seeing online,” she said.

Ms Barrett said her team had multiple examples of young boys being prayed on by malicious actors within a few clicks, highlighting one example of a child who didn’t “even have awareness of an ideology” being targeted after searching “what’s a nazi?”.

“Within a pretty quick period of time, we’ve got kids writing manifestos about school shootings and trying to get instructions on how to make an IED (improvised explosive device),” she said.

“They’re so susceptible to being exploited. Unfortunately, my investigators have to deal with that on a weekly basis, where we’re coming across 13 to 14-year-olds. That’s not the business we want to be in.”

Ms Barrett said it was still “too early to tell” if the Government’s much-touted under-16s social media ban was working, but insisted Australia still needed to “active” parents.

“It’s not the solution. We still need active parenting or active supervision of young people,” she said. “Young people at this age. They’re so vulnerable. They’re still trying to form their thoughts and their views. That means that those protective factors really need to be strong around a young person.”

AI-supercharged crimes

Ms Barrett said the force was boosting its investment in artificial intelligence, cautioned that the tech was only supercharging crimes and what was recorded in 2026 would only be “even more amplified next year”.

She said it was allowing offenders to operate at “greater scale, reach, and anonymity” creating “increasingly agile networks” for law enforcement to navigate across traditional crime borders.

“For criminal activity in 2027, we see it will likely become even more decentralised, tech-enabled, converged — so a lot more convergences with AI, crime as a service, illicit finance, and offshore facilitators,” she said.

“The emerging challenge will therefore be less about new crime types, but more about the speed, the scale, the accessibility with which existing criminal capabilities can be combined, outsourced, and directed across multiple borders. We need to be fit-for-purpose in relation to how we use tech and particularly AI.

“I’m increasingly concerned about how quick kids can be exploited, manipulated, radicalised in the online space with the assistance of AI.

“We’ve seen the shift in our counter-terrorism caseload to include more young people. As part of that, we’re seeing a bit of a shift in the ideological motivations and a big part of that is AI. That’s why I’ve been driving a lot of engagement with tech companies, both here and overseas.”

The accelerating speed and scale of radicalisation was a key priority she took to June’s Five Eyes Law Enforcement Group annual meeting in London — involving counterparts from the US, UK, Canada and New Zealand.

Ms Barrett said she will continue to expand on international engagement including during a trip to Japan next month, Hong Kong in November for Interpol, and then Los Angeles and Saipan later this year.

Online abuse

She added that online and AI-facilitated abuse was not just targeting kids, with high-profile officials increasingly harassed.

Ms Barrett said the number of parliamentarians receiving threatening communication had risen, particularly those from minority backgrounds and women.

“There are a number of particular parliamentarians that do have a greater volume of threatening communication,” she said.

Ms Barrett admitted it was also something she dealt with herself.

“I have had that as well as a senior prominent figure, particularly a law enforcement figure. Again, there has been some gender to that as well,” she said. “At the end of the day, I have a job to do. I’m representing a whole workforce of incredible people that are working so hard every single day to protect this community.”

OpenAI breach

Ms Barrett also said she wanted to use her role as AFP commissioner to encourage a “national conversation” around AI.

“I think it’s incumbent upon all Australians to be aware of AI and how they keep themselves safe in the online space,” she said.

She also revealed that OpenAI’s breach of Service Australia’s Medicare statistics in June was yet to be referred to the AFP.

Prime Minsiter Anthony Albanese had said at the UN General Assembly last month that he was seeking advice on whether to refer it to the AFP as a criminal matter.

“We haven’t had a formal referral to the AFP in relation to that matter,” she said. “There is a review underway of looking at what the legislative options might be, and part of that will ask ‘do we need new legislation in relation to such examples?’

“So at the moment . . . we don’t have a formal investigation underway but we are, of course, working across government agencies and intel partners.”