A new Counter Terrorism Online Centre opening in Sydney will help Australia's top spy and policing agencies detect and disrupt youth radicalisation before it leads to real-world violence.
The counterterrorism hub's opening comes amid a spike in young people being charged with terrorism offences.
The government is open to further legislative changes to help police and intelligence agencies crack down on youth extremism.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke says Australia's counterterrorism agencies are moving "from the meeting room to the chat room" as the government opens its first dedicated hub for tackling online extremism in Sydney today.
The Counter Terrorism Online Centre (CTOC), a $76m Commonwealth venture announced in the May budget, will bring the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) together to identify at-risk youth online and prevent them from crossing the line into terrorism.
"Where extremists are in a meeting room, we've wanted to have ways that our agencies can find out what's happening and disrupt," Mr Burke told the ABC.
Intelligence agencies view the centre as vital to clamping down on a new wave of terrorism defined by mixed ideologies, younger offenders and dramatically faster radicalisation.
It launches amid a sharp spike in youth extremism, with children now representing 40 per cent of Australia's overall counterterrorism caseload this year alone.
