The findings of a six-month inquiry into the re-emergence of far-right extremism in Victoria have been released, highlighting issues such as decreasing public trust in mainstream media and government and young people engaging with extremism.
Chaired by Northern Metropolitan member Fiona Patten, a committee investigated the spread of far-right extremism in Victoria since 2015, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and possible preventative measures to stop radicalisation.
"This report, its findings and recommendations are not the complete answer to the problems caused by extremism nor all the answers to combating it," Ms Patten said.
"They should be seen as a starting point. More work is required to understand extremism and further ways to prevent it."
The committee made 46 findings and 12 recommendations, based off submissions from dozens of interest groups and stakeholders around the state.
The government has six months to respond in writing to the recommendations.
Youth increasingly engaged with extremist ideology
The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) told the inquiry that Australia had seen an increase in the number of young people engaged with extremism.
In 2021, minors made up 15 per cent of new counter-terrorism investigations, up from 2 to 3 per cent in previous years.
On average, minors comprised more than half of ASIO's highest priority investigations per week.
Soo-Lin Quek from the Centre for Multicultural Youth told the inquiry that young people were at greater risk of radicalisation when forced to deal with social isolation, family breakdowns or mental health issues.
"What the research has told us is those young people have little real or deep knowledge of the religious or political doctrines that they are supporting," Ms Quek said.
"They get drawn into them because a lot of young people … are highly disengaged."
The committee recommended consistent resourcing of youth supports and programs in response.
It also called for further support grassroots, community-led initiatives to promote social cohesion, citing the success of Believe in Bendigo as an example of such a program.
Social media and distrust of traditional media are key factors
The committee found a decreased public trust in mainstream media and government, leading to the rise of social media as a major source of information.
It estimated more than one-third of Australians get their news from Facebook alone.
The report cited the increased use of social media apps such as Telegram to share information and "potentially dangerous content".
The use of overtly vulgar memes and jokes — called 's***posting' by the report — was also found to be used by extremist organisations to create environments conducive to recruitment.
A review of critical literacy skills taught in Victorian schools to identify misinformation was suggested by the report.
COVID restrictions may have caused further divides
The report stated that the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic provided an incubator for far-right extremism in Victoria.
Social isolation, economic insecurity and inequality were listed as risk factors that played a part in increasing susceptibility to extremist narratives and were all exacerbated by the pandemic.
However it found that while a small number of far-right extremist groups and individuals attended protests against the Victorian Government's COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine mandates in 2021, extremist ideology was not the primary motivating factor for the majority of those attending.
The committee recommended that in future public health emergencies, "the Victorian Government build on its outreach and communication efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure that there is an emphasis on public information that is in plain language, timely, accessible and easy to interpret".
While the focus of the inquiry was on far-right extremism in particular, the committee acknowledged that all forms of violent extremism were a risk to society and did not rule out future investigations of other forms of extremism.
The ASIO submission to the inquiry noted that left wing extremism is not currently prominent in Australia, although overseas groups that attract individuals to the ideology do exist.
Other recommendations in the report include suggestions that the government further amend gun laws to crack down on members of extremist groups and introduce a national cross-jurisdiction database for registered firearms.
Praise for 'watershed report' from anti-hate campaigner
Chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission Dvir Abramovich applauded the findings of the report and said it should spur the government into action.
"This watershed report is a timely wakeup call that far right-extremism in Victoria is a problem from hell that we can't run or hide from and that this is a whole-of-society challenge," Dr Abramovich said.
"The bottom line is that we can’t rest easy while these homegrown domestic terrorists in waiting, ticking time bombs, are on a recruitment drive of young disaffected white men and women."
Dr Abramovich said the government should take action in advocating to the Commonwealth to reclassify far-right extremists.
"We do not need to wait for a Christchurch like massacre in Melbourne to designate these movements, as the report recommends, as terrorist organisations," he said.
