Fighting terrorism in Australia
The world's security environment changed forever on 11 September 2001, after terrorists attacked New York City and Washington. The attacks in Bali then made it clear to Australia that we could be a target of a major terrorist incident - something most Australians would previously have dismissed.
Preventing terrorist attacks in Australia and on Australian interests overseas is a high priority for the AFP and its partner agencies.
The AFP works with representatives of the Australian Government and State and Territories on the National Counter-Terrorism Committee (NCTC), which was established by the Inter-Governmental Agreement signed by the Prime Minister, Premiers and Chief Ministers on 24 October 2002.
The role of the NCTC is to contribute to the security of the Australian community through coordination of a nation-wide cooperative framework to counter terrorism and its consequences. The committee meets twice a year and is comprised of representatives from the Australian Government and State and Territories.
The NCTC:
- maintains the National Counter-Terrorism Plan (NCTP) and associated documentation;
- provides expert strategic and policy advice to heads of government and other relevant ministers;
- coordinates an effective nation-wide counter-terrorism capability;
- maintains effective arrangements for the sharing of relevant intelligence and information between all relevant agencies and jurisdictions;
- provides advice in relation to the administration of a special fund to maintain and develop the nation-wide capability, administered by the Australian Government on the basis of advice from the NCTC.
The NCTC has well-tested, cooperative plans between the Australian Government and State and Territories to handle incidents or threats. These combine the efforts of the Australian Government and State/Territory governments and all law enforcement, security, intelligence and emergency service agencies.
More information
- Fighting terrorism at its source - protecting Australia by helping our regional partners
- Counter-Terrorism Coordination (Attorney-General's Department website)