Looking Outward - Enhancing Australia’s Deradicalisation and Disengagement Programs

In the coming years, Australia will face a cohort of violent extremists different to anything it has experienced in the past. In the face of the potential threat posed by violent extremists and returning foreign fighters, expansion of Australia’s existing deradicalisation and disengagement programs will be necessary. Deradicalisation and disengagement programs in other countries show that with sufficient resources, funding and long-term commitment to success, positive results in deradicalising and disengaging violent extremists and radicalised individuals can be achieved. To this end, Australia would be wise to look outward and consider the lessons and experiences from other countries to determine how to best expand Australia’s existing deradicalisation programs.