00:01Commissioner thanks for joining us. Two Northern Territory teenagers have been charged with
00:07terrorism related offences in the last six months. How concerned should our community
00:13be about this emerging threat? Yeah thanks Ollie. I think it's important for the community
00:20to know this is not just a feature of the Northern Territory. Worldwide we're seeing
00:25an increase in escalation of violence, violence from online platforms becoming a reality without
00:32notice. Commissioners across Australia are concerned of the threat so it's no coincidence
00:36that that type of behaviour is coming to the Northern Territory. So whilst the community
00:40should be concerned I would encourage them not to be alarmed. Is this threat something that's come
00:45to the Northern Territory a bit later than other places in Australia? Would you say we're sort of
00:50in line with what we're seeing in other jurisdictions and as you say around the world? I think what
00:55we're seeing in the Northern Territory is that the traditional things that we could rely upon
01:00to keep us safe in the Northern Territory such as our geography, analogue systems, have all
01:05changed and we're no different to the rest of the world and the rest of Australia. So what
01:09we're seeing is an increase in social media activation and use by individuals in the community, the
01:16convergence of artificial intelligence and tech along with criminals now willing to use those
01:22platforms and the Territory's not immune to that. There's obviously a difference between someone
01:27who is potentially accessing this kind of material online or who sees it online and actually committing
01:34an act of violence or terrorism in the community. Do you see this radicalisation of young people,
01:41this exposure of young people to this kind of content online as being a genuine threat to the
01:47community safety in the NT? It's a genuine threat to community safety across the world and across
01:53every jurisdiction in Australia. So what we're seeing is an increase from people with no law
01:57enforcement footprint, no intelligence footprint going from living a reality-based existence online to
02:04taking acts of violence against the community in an instant without any warning signs, without law
02:10enforcement being aware of it or ever having exposure to that person. So it's not a specific threat to the
02:17Northern Territory but we're not immune to this type of behaviour that's occurring and this the world is a
02:23changing place and that's what we're trying to say. I suppose as a law enforcement community is we rely on
02:28community being aware of the people in their lives and if things are changing you need to report that and
02:34get some help.
02:35Is there anything in particular that parents, family members, community members can look out for so that they can raise
02:41the alarm?
02:42Yeah there is Ollie. This is not about causing parents or caregivers to be fearful, it's about
02:49making them more alert to behaviours that are changing in the young people in their lives. So
02:53increasing withdrawal, increasing emotive reactions that are unusual, strong reactions to the news or
03:02political announcements, overexpression of anger or remorse in relation to things. These are all signs that
03:08can you know together can contribute to causing concern that somebody is being affected by online
03:15targeting or radicalisation. What we want to encourage parents and caregivers and people in young
03:20people's lives in the Northern Territory to do is to start those conversations if they see those behaviours.
03:26Start taking some interest, explore what's going on in their lives, explore what some of the reasoning
03:31might behind some of those behaviours and if they can't get adequate answers to that then maybe there may be
03:36something further that needs to be done and maybe there should be some reports to us that can assist us
03:40in
03:41having a look at that person's online platform.
