From Roblox to radical overnight: AFP warns parents teens are turning into extremists

November 11, 2026 — 4:20am

The Australian Federal Police is calling on parents and teachers to monitor teens for signs they could be on the brink of violence after the force foiled several mass-casualty terror plots, as its counter-terror commander issues an urgent warning about the surge in youth radicalisation.

Nearly a year on from the Bondi massacre, the AFP’s Paula Hudson said not one Islamic hate preacher, including those linked to the shooters, had been charged. A political deadlock over hate speech laws means that authorities were not given extra powers to go after suburban firebrands who are being monitored by a new special taskforce.

The AFP has also thrown its weight behind Labor’s politically contentious digital duty of care proposal, arguing it could improve the safety of social media platforms at a time when half the cohort being charged with possessing violent extremist material are teens often spending lots of time online.

Hudson noted 32 of the 37 minors charged with terror offences in the last four years were caught in the last two years, reflecting what Interpol recently branded a global crisis of “salad bar” extremism in which teens were adopting a mixture of ideologies underpinned by violence.

“We really are wanting to put out an urgent call for action and have that confronting conversation to say we’ve got a problem. We need to come together as a society to help course-correct,” Hudson said in an interview on the nation’s terror framework.

“It’s a call to action for parents, educators, and other community organisations. People need to know the signs of radicalisation and then have the conversations.”

Police research shows children vulnerable to extremism often face instability at home or school. Hudson urged parents to look for red flags, including social withdrawal, excessive time on gaming and social platforms, and increasingly hateful views.

Cost-of-living stress was combining with what she described as a teen crisis of identity and belonging, as she pleaded with young Australians to turn to trusted adults for guidance rather than AI chatbots.

“Overlay with social media and … the general climate of anger. People are angry out there. They’re more willing to express that anger, more willing to mobilise towards violence,” she said.

Following the Bondi attack, Labor shelved hate speech laws that could be used to target radical preachers after the Nationals and Greens opposed the bill, saying the laws could restrict speech. The Coalition has objected to Labor’s proposed digital duty laws, which could levy large fines on platforms that fail to police dangerous content.

‘People need to know the signs of radicalisation and then have the conversations.’

Paula Hudson, AFP Counter Terrorism Commander

Labor hopes to pass the digital duty in the last parliamentary week of the year with the support of the Greens. Hudson said the proposed laws and a new tool to opt in to algorithmic suggestions could help clean up social media feeds, and revealed the AFP had been meeting with major tech firms to “build in safety” to platforms rather than the current system of responding to individual reports.

The AFP had previously been reluctant to open up about cases alleged to involve teen extremism until commissioner Krissy Barrett was appointed last year and set up new national security teams in response to local tensions stemming from conflict in Gaza as well as a growing neo-Nazi threat.

“The environment is much more diverse and dynamic,” Hudson said. “We can’t expect that someone is going to act out in the real world in the long term any more. It’s more likely to be rapid … so we don’t have time.”

“The majority of those youth cases that we have had, they have been well advanced … That is, handbooks, survival kits, writing manifestos. They’ve got target selection, schools. They’re trying to get their hands on manufacturing IEDs or 3D-printed firearms.”

Hudson outlined details of recent cases that displayed the renewed threat of Islamic extremism, which she said was the “predominant” part of the youth caseload, as well as far-right movements.

Last month in Darwin, federal police charged two 15-year-olds, a boy and girl, over a plot to attack a school and church. Police allege the pair possessed firearms.

Authorities say one of the teens had expressed support for white supremacist Brenton Tarrant, who murdered 51 people in a 2019 attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. However, they also relied on ISIS-inspired material and an al-Qaeda survival kit. The girl in this matter was motivated by nihilistic violence and was alleged to be intent on killing whoever she encountered. The case demonstrates the insidious mixture of seemingly contradictory ideologies.

In another case, Hudson said authorities allege a 17-year-old boy was “well on the way” to carrying out an attack on synagogues in Melbourne. The boy, charged a few months ago, had allegedly imported an ISIS flag and was learning how to make explosives.

A separate operation in Melbourne has led to six men being charged with exchanging ISIS propaganda, including two men who were in a car that was rammed as it travelled to Bondi Beach days after last year’s Bondi massacre. Authorities suspected the carload of men was on the way to glorify the shooting.

The royal commission into antisemitism will report in December any potential shortcomings in Australia’s security framework.

A 17-year-old Canberran – who allegedly held racist, nationalistic views – was arrested on Christmas Eve last year for preparing to carry out a terrorist attack.

ASIO boss Mike Burgess has said that Australia’s terror threat level of “probable” underestimates the seriousness of the dangers Australians face.

After the Bondi attack, police launched Operation Antrobus to monitor three prayer halls across Sydney and Melbourne. However, Hudson said no sermons have met the threshold for charges, as preachers skilfully use scripture and generalised language to avoid crossing the threshold of current hate-speech laws.

The group formerly known as the National Socialist Network lodged a challenge in the High Court against new federal laws outlawing it as a hate group. Hudson suggested authorities would place renewed focus on the group if the High Court throws out the laws.

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Paul Sakkal is Chief Political Correspondent. He previously covered Victorian politics and won a Walkley award and the 2025 Press Gallery Journalist of the Year. Contact him securely on Signal @paulsakkal.14.Connect via X or email.

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