Senate inquiry into right wing extremism calls for national hate crimes database

An inquiry into the rising threat of right wing extremism has delivered a set of options to roll back the hatred, including a new national hate crimes database.

A Senate inquiry into right wing extremism has called for a new national hate crimes database as part of a sweep of recommendations to check the rising swell of anti-democratic sentiment coursing through Australia.

The committee, in its report released on Friday, recommends the federal government adopts a “nationally consistent definition” of what constitutes a hate crime and “consider establishing a national hate crimes database.”

The inquiry found the absence of a national database had resulted in an incomplete picture of the potential scale of the threat.

“The lack of a nationally consistent understanding of what constitutes a hate crime has resulted in a reluctance to report those crimes and incomplete data about the extent of the problem,” the report states.

“A nationally consistent approach to what constitutes a hate crime would facilitate a nationally consistent reporting and data collecting system.

“That system would provide quantitative evidence of the efficacy of legislative measures that address hate and violence against targeted communities, assist law enforcement agencies in evaluating the effectiveness of their policing and education and training programs and assist human rights commissions in developing advocacy programs and providing victim support programs.”

At present, some private organisations such as the Executive Council of Australian Jewry compile evidence of hate crimes.

Neo Nazis march in Adelaide in 2023. The threat of right wing extremism has erupted into public view in recent months, with cities hit with open protests from Nazi groups including the National Socialist Network. Picture: NewsWire

At a hearing before the committee in June, Sarah Schwartz from the Jewish Council of Australia said a national database would help clarify “where” anti-Semitism was coming from and an objective database from an independent body could potentially reduce division within the Jewish community about the nature of the country’s growing anti-Semitic pressures.

The database proposal forms one part of a set of recommendations to address the disturbing expansion of white supremacist and neo Nazi movements in the country.

The inquiry found Australian extremists have built links with other far-right international movements, propelling their radicalism forward and drawing in more members.

It also found the internet and social media had accelerated the growth of globalised extremist movements and put vulnerable younger Australians at greater risk of radicalisation.

“As at November 2024, there have been nine attacks, disruptions or suspected terrorist incidents in Australia.

“In ASIO’s assessment, most of those incidents were motivated by nationalist and racist ideologies or a hybrid of ideologies,” the report states.

“All those incidents involved lone actors or small groups and low-capability weapons.

“It is deeply concerning that law enforcement and intelligence agencies reported that many radicalised individuals the subject of their investigations are young people.”

ASIO boss Mike Burgess has warned more and more young Australians are getting swept up in radical ideologies. Picture: NewsWire / Dean Martin

ASIO boss Mike Burgess, in a joint release with the AFP from Friday, said about 20 per cent of the intelligence agency’s priority counter-terrorism cases involve young people.

“In every one of the terrorist attacks, disruptions and suspected terrorist incidents in Australia this year, the alleged perpetrator was a young person,” he said.

In an address from October, he warned extremist content was only ever a “few clicks” away in the online world.

“As a nation, we need to reflect on why some young teenagers are hanging Nazi flags or portraits of the Christchurch killer on their bedroom walls and why others are sharing beheading videos in the schoolyard,” he said.

“When ASIO and law enforcement are dealing with this problem, it is usually too late.”

The committee recommends the government develop a “national framework for engaging with young people to deter them from radical extremism”.

“That framework should provide best practice guidance to the states and territories and the broader civic community on how to engage with young people to assist them in identifying harmful ideologies promoting violent extremism, deter them from adopting harmful ideologies promoting violent extremism and provide them with the means to engage with the wider community in a socially positive way.”

The committee also recommends the government conduct research into violent extremism in the online environment, including on social media platforms, gaming platforms and gaming-adjacent platforms.

“That research should examine how those platforms may be used by extremist actors to spread propaganda and recruit members, particularly in relation to young people,” the report states.

“As a parent, the numbers are shocking. As an intelligence officer, the numbers are sobering.”

The committee, with the exception of Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi, also recommends the government considers introducing legislation that would enable law enforcement and intelligence services to access encrypted communications “if there is a well-founded threat to national security and a warrant has been issued by a judicial officer to access those communications.”