Psychological and social counselling programs to turn individuals away from violence work, a terrorism expert turned minister says, after recent terror-related incidents raised alarms about their efficacy.
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A 16-year-old was shot dead in Western Australia on the weekend after a random stabbing attack that had "all the hallmarks of a terror incident", according to the state premier.
The teenager had been involved in a de-radicalisation support program since 2022.
It followed the stabbing of a bishop in Sydney, which police branded a terrorist incident.
Youth Minister Anne Aly says there's no one-size-fits-all approach to combating radicalisation but the programs do work.
"I have seen them work, personally seen them work, and so I don't think that we should be holus-bolus going 'oh, these programs don't work' and walking away from them," she told ABC radio on Tuesday.
"The fact is that where they don't work, that's unfortunately when we hear about them."
Addressing mental health issues was also a key factor, Dr Aly said.
Her previous research explored whether young people at risk of radicalisation had a violent or aggressive history on top of any mental health issues.
"It was pretty astounding to find that for a lot of them there was this history, but it was never really explored or spoken about," she said.
"It's like when someone commits a terrorist act that that's all they ever become and so we kind of don't really look at the pathway that led them there."
It was often a culmination of multiple factors, Dr Aly added.
"It's difficult to kind of extricate or pull apart mental health and radicalisation," she said.
"But one of the key components of working with young people in this space is to have a psychologist involved or a counsellor involved so we can deal with those issues as well."
Counselling and education programs in Saudi Arabia to turn extremists away from terrorism have been proven to be effective, according to the Europe-based Regional Co-operation Council.
Australian Federal Police were working with people of all faiths and community leaders to target and stop radicalisation, Commissioner Reece Kershaw said.
Large social media platforms also needed to work with police to take down and block violent and radical content, Mr Kershaw said.
"That's a global issue that we have with law enforcement on making sure all that material stays off the internet," he told Sydney radio station 2GB.
"The internet is linking up these troubled youth and sometimes radicalised youth and unfortunately, they're able to obtain material that shouldn't be made available.
"Big tech companies need to take responsibility for this and we shouldn't have to be using warrants and other things all the time with taking material down."
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Australian Associated Press
