Anthony Bergin and Jason Brown run the rule over Australia’s new strategy for protecting crowded places from terrorism.
Following the recent Council of Australian Governments (COAG) special meeting on counter-terrorism most discussion focused on the announcement of national facial biometric matching capability.
However, little attention was given to the fact that all states and territories welcomed the August launch of the Australia- New Zealand Counter-Terrorism Committee’s (ANZCTC) Australia’s Strategy for Protecting Crowded Places from Terrorism. The strategy aims to make places such as sports stadia, transport infrastructure, shopping centres, tourist attractions, and civic spaces more resilient to terrorist attacks.
Although some may disagree, the Strategy is a step forward in providing guidance and tools for both private enterprise and local government to reduce the likelihood and harm from a terrorist incident in areas where crowds present an attractive target for malicious actors, not just terrorists.
The section on the role of local government is especially useful: it’s the first time the third tier of government has been noted in a Commonwealth counter-terrorism strategy or plan.
The Strategy makes a positive contribution to developing Australia’s response to terrorism by highlighting the terrorism threat to owners and operators of crowded venues.
But at the same time, we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that there’s also value in an ‘all hazards’ approach to safety and security: many of the security and safety controls that can be implemented to deal with predictable hazards, such as natural hazards or industrial accidents, will also have a mitigating impact on the likelihood of extreme malicious acts. Barriers against an ATM ‘ram raid’, for example, will also be useful against a deliberate mass rundown. Video surveillance against theft provides reconnaissance and investigation for terrorist threats and acts.
On the basis of likelihood alone, such control measures should be considered first before those controls for the lower likelihood, yet high-impact, malicious event. An all hazards risk assessment should be undertaken prior to conducting a venue terrorist assessment and audit. The malicious actor threat, from criminal, unstable individuals through to terrorists, should be part of this consideration…Click HERE to read full article.
