An Analytical Study On Australian Counter-Terrorism Policies Since 2001

9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001,along with the following attacks in Bali,Madrid,and London,shattered Australia's immunity of terrorism and complacency with regard to its geographical position,and enabled Australia to be aware of its increasing need of combating terrorism.The terror alert level in Australia is "Probable" now,indicating that Australia is targeted by terrorists,and terror attacks would probably occur in Australia.Since 9/11 attacks in 2001,Australia has been actively updating its counter-terrorism policies from the perspectives of counter-terrorism strategy,legislation and law enforcement.This study,aimed at exploring characteristics and changes of Australia's counter-terrorism policies since 2001,focuses on Australia's domestic counter-terrorism policies.The study finds Australia's counter-terrorism policies are generally effective and valid.Factors influencing counter-terrorism polices and the functions of those policies are examined and presented.Such policy related problems as Islamophobia,marginalization of Muslims in enforcement of counter-terrorism laws,and encroachment of civil liberties because of extensive powers of government executives,are also investigated with an expectation to be conducive to the Australian effort for the promotion and perfection of its counter-terrorism policies.The study argues Australia's counter-terrorism policies are responses to and directed at the rising terrorism threat on its soil and abroad.People who are inspired by violent extremist ideologies,foreign fighters and lone actors included,are considered to be the main risk in Australia.On account of the definition of terrorism in Australia,and government reports on counter-terrorism from 2004 to 2015,this study believes prevention is the first and foremost counter-terrorism policy in multi-cultural Australia,and communities are viewed as the most resilient strength in an effort to prevent,respond to,and recover from terrorist attacks.Adaptability is another main characteristic in Australia's counter-terrorism polices,for the nature of terrorism is not static and the policies aimed at it should be under timely update.Promotion of violent extremist ideology which radicalizes people is considered the root cause of terrorism.Community engagement,thereby,is implemented and underlined.Over 60 counter-terrorism laws are enacted since 2001.Those laws,pre-emptive in nature,have covered a wide range of fields and granted extensive powers to government executives.However,those policies are not free from defects.Muslim communities are regarded as a single community and the suspect community in counter-terrorism practice.Too much attention has been paid to Muslims in community engagement.Mutual understanding and communication among communities are neglected to some extent.Islamophobia,therefore,is on the rise in recent years.Social cohesion is undermined,which runs counter to the implementation of community engagement.Meanwhile,instead of being protected by counter-terrorism laws,Muslims,the so-called suspect community,feel marginalized in the enforcement of counter-terrorism laws.Cases of civil liberties being curtailed occur from time to time because of the pre-emptive laws.All such problems concerning the development and validity of Australia's counter-terrorism polices are bound to be resolved.It is essential for the Australian government and the media to water-down and eventually eradicate the imagined "intrinsic" relationship between Muslims and terrorism,alleviate or terminate the misunderstandings on Muslims from other communities,and enhance social cohesion.This way can fundamentally help prevent terrorism from penetrating into Australia.The media is responsible for providing rational and correct information for the public to the reinforcement of mutual respect and understanding among various communities and stakeholders,and,to some extent,scrutinizing and overseeing the Australian government's operation of counter-terrorism policies.