War in Gaza didn't directly spark domestic terror: ASIO

Australia experienced five terror attacks, disruptions or suspected incidents in three months but conflict in the Middle East did not directly inspire any of them, the national intelligence agency says.

Spikes in political polarisation and intolerance across the world have been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic and exacerbated after the Hamas attack on Israel and Israel's subsequent violence in Gaza, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) annual report says.

The report, released on Thursday, said this had raised the temperature of the security environment and made terrorism more likely.

In the final quarter of the 2023/24 financial year, there were five terrorist attacks, disruptions or suspected terrorist incidents in Australia.

"Importantly, though, none of the attacks or plots were directly inspired by the conflict in the Middle East," ASIO boss Mike Burgess wrote in the report.

"The motivations for terrorism (have) become more diverse and complicated."

All of the cases involved young people with low-grade weapons, mental health was a factor in many incidents, and while some were religiously motivated, others were nationalist or racist violent extremists.

Some subscribed to a mix of these ideologies.

Only some of the perpetrators were known to ASIO or the police and, of those who moved to violence, most gave little or no warning.

The spy organisation in August elevated the national terror threat from "possible" to "probable" because of an increased risk of politically motivated violence.

The online sphere remains a chief concern, particularly for young Australians.

"The internet continues to be the single most potent incubator of extremism," Mr Burgess said.

"Social media is a key driver of the volatility, connecting Australians to violent ideologies, fuelling extremism and allowing misinformation, conspiracies and grievances to spread with speed and at scale."

The threat of foreign interference and espionage concerns remained but there was only one major disruption in this area during 2023/24, compared to 11 the year before and 12 in 2021/22.

Multiple nations, including some considered friendly, sought to covertly understand and shape Australian politics and monitor, harass and intimidate members of diaspora communities.

ASIO has worked with other law enforcement bodies to address espionage and terrorist threats, but Mr Burgess insists many concerns cannot be addressed by ASIO alone and require a whole-of-community response.