‘Can’t afford to drop the ball’: SA event organisers on alert following terror threat upgrade

SA event organisers are reassessing their security measures after Australia’s terror threat level was raised.

South Australian venues are tightening security measures ahead of major events in Adelaide attracting hundreds of thousands of fans and families following a national terror warning.

Australia’s terror threat level has been raised from possible to probable for the first time in a decade because of deteriorating social cohesion, the Prime Minister announced on Monday.

Security agency ASIO advised the government that the terror threat level needed to rise because the “security environment is more volatile and more unpredictable.”

ASIO boss Mike Burgess said “a threat level of probable is assessed as greater than 50 per cent chance of attack planning in the next 12 months”.

Royal Adelaide Show organisers will discuss the terror alert. Picture: Kelly Barnes

An Adelaide Oval spokeswoman said it does not comment on security measures. Picture: Tom Huntley

The Royal Adelaide Show, hosted over August 31 to September 8, may have increased security this year as organisers are set to meet on Tuesday to discuss the terror alert.

Adelaide Oval is expected to be packed ahead of the AFL Showdown on Saturday August 17, but any added security measures cannot be revealed.

A spokeswoman said Adelaide Oval “does not comment on its security posture”.

South Australian expert in terrorism Dr John Bruni said event organisers “can’t afford to drop the ball on suspicious activity”.

“Anyone that is planning a mass casualty event will have to bring stuff in somewhere,” Dr Bruni said.

“We need to make sure we have the right people in the right places checking people’s personal effects.”

While Adelaide is at threat from terrorism, Dr Bruni said, it is “on a smaller scale” compared with larger cities such as Sydney and Melbourne.

“The threat is there but it’s quite a low level threat,” he said.

“Adelaide is a strategically important town (with defence projects at Osborne) but it’s a small town.”

Changes made to security at Adelaide venues “won’t be publicly spotted by anyone and the general public won’t have to think about it”, Dr Bruni said.

However, SA schools need to be vigilant in preventing vulnerable children from being exposed to extremist material as with social media “these things travel so quickly”, he said.