Terrorism threat level raised to ‘probable’ in Australia

Australia’s official terror alert level has been raised to “probable” amid heightened community tensions over the war in Gaza.

Security authorities believe the chances of a violent extremist act are now more likely than when authorities lowered the alert level to “possible” in November 2022.

ASIO’s director-general Mike Burgess said Australia’s security environment had become more volatile and unpredictable.

Burgess reiterates that while Gaza is not the cause of the terror alert increase, it was a “significant driver”.

“It’s driven more emotion and heat into society,” Burgess said.

When asked about the practical changes of this decision, Mike Burgess said ASIO and his law enforcement colleagues are “reviewing [their] caseload of assessed violent extremists.”