The massacre of 15 people at Bondi Beach less than two months into her five-year tenure has only solidified her urgency to boost capabilities.<\/p>\n
While Ms Barrett had declared anti-Semitism, hate crimes and social cohesion would be \u201cright at the top of the list\u201d of priorities when Anthony Albanese announced her appointment last October, she described the attacks as an unforeseen atrocity.<\/p>\n
Her focus at the time had been sharpened by what she described as a wave of \u201cextreme views\u201d and \u201cincreasing complexity\u201d in Australia after the October 7, 2023 Hamas terror attack.<\/p>\n
![\"Fifteen](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/02fa1893ea63e3010c72f92470d616d85f857829.jpg\")
Fifteen people were killed when gunmen opened fire on a December 14 Hanukkah celebration at Bondi. Credit: Bianca De Marchi\/AAP<\/p>\n
\u201cThe horrific events of Bondi is not something that anyone foresaw to that magnitude,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Ms Barrett had served as the counterterrorism assistant commissioner and national security deputy commissioner before being elevated into the top job.<\/p>\n
Both had crystallised her view that on the first day in the role she would pivot the AFP from a law enforcement agency to a \u201cnational security agency\u201d.<\/p>\n
Ms Barrett admitted that some parts of the AFP had found the realignment a \u201cculture shift\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was a bit of a culture shift for the AFP or, for some parts of the AFP, but I was unequivocal and very, very clear that that\u2019s where we needed to be,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPost Bondi now, if I reflect back where we\u2019re at in the threat environment and what we\u2019ve been through in the last 12 months, (it) really consolidates and validates for me that those clear decisions I made at the very start of my commissionership were absolutely the right decisions for the organisation and for the Australian community.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we have seen in the environment since October 7 is just an increasing complexity and extreme views that has obviously contributed to the AFP\u2019s work and made things harder for us.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve talked publicly about \u2014 as has Mike Burgess \u2014 that the art of respectful debate seems to be declining in this country.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, that was a big part of the national security investigations teams being stood up because I could see this gap around hate crimes, hate symbols and actions that were driving fear.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of that to say, the environment today is more complex even than it was a year ago. And as we continue, particularly the back end of this year, there is going to be a lot of noise.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got the (Bondi) anniversary coming up. We should never ever forget . . . that 15 innocent people were killed in atrocious circumstances, and as we move through those anniversaries, emotions are high.\u201d<\/p>\n
Algorithm driving extremism <\/p>\n
Ms Barrett said algorithms drawing people to extreme views online was \u201cno doubt\u201d a factor in the fraying social cohesion in Australia after the October 7 terror attacks in Israel.<\/p>\n
She said it was concerning young Australians, particularly boys, were increasingly being sucked into the \u201cdeep dark depths of a really dangerous rabbit hole\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no doubt that algorithms are a factor in what we\u2019re seeing online,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Ms Barrett said her team had multiple examples of young boys being prayed on by malicious actors within a few clicks, highlighting one example of a child who didn\u2019t \u201ceven have awareness of an ideology\u201d being targeted after searching \u201cwhat\u2019s a nazi?\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithin a pretty quick period of time, we\u2019ve got kids writing manifestos about school shootings and trying to get instructions on how to make an IED (improvised explosive device),\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re so susceptible to being exploited. Unfortunately, my investigators have to deal with that on a weekly basis, where we\u2019re coming across 13 to 14-year-olds. That\u2019s not the business we want to be in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Barrett said it was still \u201ctoo early to tell\u201d if the Government\u2019s much-touted under-16s social media ban was working, but insisted Australia still needed to \u201cactive\u201d parents.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not the solution. We still need active parenting or active supervision of young people,\u201d she said. \u201cYoung people at this age. They\u2019re so vulnerable. They\u2019re still trying to form their thoughts and their views. That means that those protective factors really need to be strong around a young person.\u201d<\/p>\n
AI-supercharged crimes<\/p>\n
Ms Barrett said the force was boosting its investment in artificial intelligence, cautioned that the tech was only supercharging crimes and what was recorded in 2026 would only be \u201ceven more amplified next year\u201d.<\/p>\n
She said it was allowing offenders to operate at \u201cgreater scale, reach, and anonymity\u201d creating \u201cincreasingly agile networks\u201d for law enforcement to navigate across traditional crime borders.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor criminal activity in 2027, we see it will likely become even more decentralised, tech-enabled, converged \u2014 so a lot more convergences with AI, crime as a service, illicit finance, and offshore facilitators,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe emerging challenge will therefore be less about new crime types, but more about the speed, the scale, the accessibility with which existing criminal capabilities can be combined, outsourced, and directed across multiple borders. We need to be fit-for-purpose in relation to how we use tech and particularly AI.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m increasingly concerned about how quick kids can be exploited, manipulated, radicalised in the online space with the assistance of AI.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen the shift in our counter-terrorism caseload to include more young people. As part of that, we\u2019re seeing a bit of a shift in the ideological motivations and a big part of that is AI. That\u2019s why I\u2019ve been driving a lot of engagement with tech companies, both here and overseas.\u201d<\/p>\n
The accelerating speed and scale of radicalisation was a key priority she took to June\u2019s Five Eyes Law Enforcement Group annual meeting in London \u2014 involving counterparts from the US, UK, Canada and New Zealand.<\/p>\n
Ms Barrett said she will continue to expand on international engagement including during a trip to Japan next month, Hong Kong in November for Interpol, and then Los Angeles and Saipan later this year.<\/p>\n
Online abuse<\/p>\n
She added that online and AI-facilitated abuse was not just targeting kids, with high-profile officials increasingly harassed.<\/p>\n
Ms Barrett said the number of parliamentarians receiving threatening communication had risen, particularly those from minority backgrounds and women.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are a number of particular parliamentarians that do have a greater volume of threatening communication,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Ms Barrett admitted it was also something she dealt with herself.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have had that as well as a senior prominent figure, particularly a law enforcement figure. Again, there has been some gender to that as well,\u201d she said. \u201cAt the end of the day, I have a job to do. I\u2019m representing a whole workforce of incredible people that are working so hard every single day to protect this community.\u201d<\/p>\n
OpenAI breach<\/p>\n
Ms Barrett also said she wanted to use her role as AFP commissioner to encourage a \u201cnational conversation\u201d around AI.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s incumbent upon all Australians to be aware of AI and how they keep themselves safe in the online space,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She also revealed that OpenAI\u2019s breach of Service Australia\u2019s Medicare statistics in June was yet to be referred to the AFP.<\/p>\n
Prime Minsiter Anthony Albanese had said at the UN General Assembly last month that he was seeking advice on whether to refer it to the AFP as a criminal matter.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe haven\u2019t had a formal referral to the AFP in relation to that matter,\u201d she said. \u201cThere is a review underway of looking at what the legislative options might be, and part of that will ask \u2018do we need new legislation in relation to such examples?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cSo at the moment . . . we don\u2019t have a formal investigation underway but we are, of course, working across government agencies and intel partners.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australia\u2019s top cop has warned the threat environment is \u201cmore complex\u201d today almost a year on from our…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":920708,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44,84],"class_list":["post-920707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news","tag-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/920707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=920707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/920707\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/920708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=920707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=920707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=920707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}