Australia is facing a “tsunami” of youth crime as artificial intelligence accelerates the pace and scale of radicalisation, a parliamentary inquiry has heard. The Australian federal police acting deputy commissioner Sandra Booth told the hearing on Wednesday that, while radicalisation had traditionally taken years or months, that process could now happen within days. This may have serious consequences for democracy and institutions.
In one example of radicalisation, an investigation found a 13-year-old boy allegedly possessed violent extremist material. He was using the social media platform Discord and, during a raid at his home, police allege they found a notebook that contained plans for a school shooting. The inquiry heard since 2020, 65 children, including as young as 12, had been subject to federal police operations.
Thirty-five of those had been charged with state or commonwealth terrorism-related offences. The intelligence and security committee chair, Senator Raff Ciccone, said the parliament was trying to understand why people were being radicalised in a matter of days and weeks.
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