Mapping far-right extremism intervention capacities in Victoria

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While not a new phenomenon, Victoria has seen a resurgence of far-right activity both offline and in online space since the mid-2010s (Parliament of Victoria 2022). This has profoundly changed the landscape of violent extremism in the state and across Australia, as reflected in successive ASIO threat assessments (2021, 2022, 2023) that have highlighted a threat of violence from far-right violent extremist milieus. These changes have created new challenges for countering violent extremism (CVE) practitioners across government agencies, law enforcement, and intelligence agencies.

Against the backdrop of the rise of far-right extremism and a volatile and evolving threat scenario, this project examined current intervention infrastructure and programs for addressing radicalisation to far-right extremism in Victoria, the strengths of existing intervention capabilities, what gaps exist, and what improvements may be needed to strengthen Victoria’s capacity to prevent and intervene in far-right radicalisation pathways and trajectories.

The research presented in this report offers a review of current Victorian countering violent extremism (CVE) policy and programming, as well as a comprehensive literature review of far-right extremist intervention methods and radicalisation pathways. The empirical data collected for the study comprises 22 expert interviews with civil society and government stakeholders from Victoria, other parts of Australia and overseas. Based on this multi-method research, this report provides original insights into key features, strengths and gaps in Victoria’s current intervention capability in the context of far-right extremism. It also explores how these capabilities can be further developed and strengthened, for example by drawing on other national or international intervention approaches and tapping into community partnership opportunities.