The Australian government has raised the country's terror threat level from "possible" to "probable", reversing a change made almost two years ago.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made the announcement in Canberra today.
Intelligence sources said the decision to raise the terror threat level was not driven by a single issue or ideology, but an overall increase in societal polarization in Australia and other Western countries.
The sources said public integrity is under pressure and discontent over the Covid-19 era is being exacerbated by the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
The terrorist threat level was last changed in 2022, when it was downgraded to "possible".
"I want to reassure Australians that 'probably' does not mean imminent and does not mean that there is intelligence about an imminent threat or danger," Albanese said on Monday.
"But the advice we've received is that more and more Australians are embracing more diverse extreme ideologies and it's our responsibility to be vigilant."
The level of terrorist threat in Australia is assessed by security officials on a five-point scale, with "not expected" being the lowest and "possible" the second.
Today's change moves the rating to the medium "probable" level. After "probably" the more serious levels are "expected" and then "definitely".
The "probable" level means that security officials believe "there is a greater than 50% probability of an attack on land or planning an attack in the next twelve months". | BGNES
