List of terrorist incidents in Australia

List of incidents in Australia where an organised group, or an individual claiming an association with such a group, attempts or plans an act of violence targeting innocents.

Date Type Dead Injured Location and description
17 January 1971 Bombing The Soviet embassy in Canberra was attacked by a crude bomb that was thrown over a security fence.[1] There were a number of theories at the time of who the perpetrators were, but no-one has ever been apprehended or charged.
16 September 1972 Bombing 16 Sydney Yugoslav General Trade and Tourist Agency bombing - The bombing occurred in Haymarket, Sydney and injured sixteen people.[2] The perpetrators of the attack were believed to be Croatian separatists.[3]
13 February 1978 Bombing 3 11 Sydney Hilton Hotel bombing - a bomb exploded outside the Hilton Hotel in Sydney, which was hosting the first Commonwealth Heads of Government Regional Meeting. Two garbage collectors and a police officer were killed and eleven others were injured. As a result of the bombing, ASIO's powers and budget were greatly expanded. It was also a motivation for the formation of the Australian Federal Police.[4]
17 December 1980 Shooting 2 Sydney Turkish Consul General assassination - Sydney Turkish Consul General Şarık Arıyak and his security attaché Engin Sever were assassinated by two people on motorcycles wielding firearms in Sydney. The Justice Commandos for the Armenian Genocide claimed responsibility but the culprits were never identified and no charges were laid. The Consul General was gunned down despite having taken precautions in the form of not travelling in the official consulate Mercedes Benz vehicle and instead being chauffeured in the trailing security attaché's car.[5]
23 December 1982 Bombing Sydney Israeli Consulate and Hakoah Club bombings - The two bombings occurred within five hours of each other. The initial case led to a single arrest though charges were later dropped. In 2011, the NSW police and Australian federal police reopened the case citing new leads.[6][7][8][9]
23 November 1986 Bombing 0 (+1 perpetrator) Melbourne Turkish consulate bombing - a car bomb exploded in a carpark beneath the Turkish Consulate in South Yarra, Victoria, killing the bomber who failed to correctly set up the explosive device. Levon Demirian, a Sydney resident with links to the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, was charged over the attack and served 10 years.[10]
1988 Bombing Jack van Tongeren and the ANM - Throughout the late 1980s, West Australian neo-Nazi group "The Australian Nationalist Movement", led by Jack van Tongeren, engaged in a series of bombings of Asian restaurants and businesses, political violence, murder of a suspected informant and other acts to intimidate the Asian population. Van Tongeren was imprisoned until his release in the early-mid 2000s. He resumed his activities until he was re-arrested in 2004 as part of Operation Atlantic, prompting a judge to order him to leave the state.[11]
17 June 1995 Bombing 1995 bombing of the French Consulate in Perth, Western Australia - terrorists firebombed the French Consulate in Perth.[12]
16 July 2001 Shooting 1 Abortion clinic attack (2001) - Peter James Knight, described as an "obsessive anti-abortionist" who lived alone in a makeshift camp in rural New South Wales, attacked the East Melbourne Family Planning clinic, a privately run clinic providing abortions, carrying a rifle, and large quantities of kerosene and lighters. He shot and killed a security guard at the clinic before his capture and arrest. He was charged and convicted of murder, and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 23 years. Though Knight was not charged with any specific terrorism offences, Australian terrorism academic Clive Williams listed the attack amongst incidents of politically motivated violence in Australia.[13]
4 August 2009 Planned Attack 0 0 Holsworthy Barracks terror plot - Five arrested for an Islamist terrorist plot uncovered in August 2009 targeting Holsworthy Barracks—an Australian Army training area with automatic weapons. Given lengthy prison terms, the judge called them an ongoing threat to society as long as they were unrepentant of their jihadist attitudes. Connected with the Somali-based terrorist group al-Shabaab.[14]
23 September 2014 Stabbing 0 (+1 perpetrator) 2 2014 Endeavour Hills stabbings - 18-year-old Numan Haider stabbed two counter-terrorism officers in Endeavour Hills, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. He was then shot dead. He had just recently had his passport canceled for fears he would join ISIL. Haider was carrying two knives and the Black Standard flag.[15]
15 December 2014 Hostage Crisis and Shooting 2 (+1 perpetrator) 4 2014 Sydney hostage crisis - Man Haron Monis, a lone gunman, held hostage ten customers and eight employees of a Lindt chocolate café located at Martin Place in Sydney, Australia. The Sydney siege lead to a 16-hour standoff, during which 3 gunshots were heard from inside over a period of time. The first two shots were fired in the general direction of fleeing hostages and were left unopposed by on scene police command, however police officers from the Tactical Operations Unit stormed the café after reports the third shot was the execution of hostage Tori Johnson. Hostage Katrina Dawson was killed by a ricocheted bullet fragment in the subsequent raid. Monis was also killed. Three other hostages and a police officer were injured by police gunfire during the raid.
10 February 2015 Planned Attack 0 0 Fairfield Raids - police in Sydney were tipped off two Islamic jihadists preparing terror attacks, arrested after observed purchasing weapons. They had already made a martyrdom video.[16]
2 October 2015 Shooting 1 (+1 perpetrator) 0 2015 Parramatta shooting - 15 year old Farhad Khalil Mohammad Jabar, an Iraqi-Kurd, shot dead Curtis Cheng, a civilian employee of the New South Wales Police, before being shot dead by a New South Wales Police special constable during a shootout.[17]
10 September 2016 Stabbing 0 2 2016 Minto stabbing attack - A 22-year-old man inspired by Islamic State stabbed a man before being arrested and charged with attempted murder. He also inflicted minor injuries on a nearby shop owner.
7 April 2017 Stabbing 1 3 2017 Queanbeyan stabbing attacks - On 7 April 2017, a pair of 15 and 16-year-old boys entered a service station in the small town of Queanbeyan in NSW and stabbed 29-year old Zeeshan Akbar of Pakistani descent and Zeeshan soon died at the scene. Three other men were also attacked and injured at the scene. The 16-year old's mother had told police that she believed that her son had been radicalised in recent weeks and that he sympathised with Islamic State and had also posted concerning posts on Facebook.
5 June 2017 Hostage taking, shooting 1 (+1 perpetrator) 3 2017 Brighton siege - Yacqub Khayre shot dead a Chinese-Australian receptionist in a serviced apartment complex and took a prostitute hostage in Brighton, Victoria. Police officers were involved in gunfight with Khayre who was shot dead and three officers wounded. ISIL claimed responsibility for the attack and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull described the incident as terrorism, however Victoria Police warned that there was no evidence to suggest he was acting on orders given from overseas. Khayre had previously been charged in relation to the Holsworthy Barracks terror plot but was acquitted in trial. He had recently been released on parole.[18]
9 February 2018 Stabbing 0 1 Momena Shoma, a Bangladeshi national, stabbed a 56-year-old man in the neck while he was asleep at his Callistemon Rise home in Mill Park, Victoria.[19] She has been charged with engaging in a terrorist act and it's alleged she was inspired by terror group Islamic State.[20]
9 November 2018 Stabbing 1 (+1 perpetrator) 3 2018 Melbourne stabbing attack Somali immigrant stabs 3 individuals, 1 deceased. Attacked police in Bourke Street, Melbourne CBD before being shot and killed by Victorian Police.
17 December 2020 Stabbing 2 (+1 perpetrator) 0 Raghe Abdi, a Sudanese-Australian radicalised ISIS supporter, murder of an elderly couple in their Brisbane home in Parkinson, Queensland.[21][22]

References
  1. Canberra Times, 18 January 1971. http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/11952240 Archived 9 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Abjorensen, Norman, and James C. Docherty. Historical Dictionary of Australia. Rowman and Littlefield. 2014. Page 355.
  3. Democratic Oversight of Intelligence Services. Daniel Baldino ed. Federation Press. 2010. Page 40.
  4. Jane Freeman, "The Hilton bombing," Sydney Morning Herald, 6 February 1995.
  5. Global Terrorism Database; Michael M. Gunter, p. 69.
  6. "1982 HAKOAH CLUB AND ISRAELI CONSULATE BOMBINGS HAVE BEEN REOPENED." JewishNews.net.au. 29 August 2012.
  7. "Hakoah bombing mystery re-opens." News.com.au 25 August 2012.
  8. "Police reopen 1982 Sydney bombings case." ABC News. Sunday 26 AUG 2012.
  9. Mercer, Neil. "Police have new lead in Hakoah Club bombing." Sydney Morning Herald. 12 September 2012.
  10. 16.Jump up ^ Greek Bulgarian armenian Front MIPT
  11. "Supremacist leader in court" theage.com.au. AAP. 7 August 2004. Retrieved 10 March 2015
  12. "French Consular Office in Australia Destroyed by Fire". Los Angeles Times. AP (Associated Press). 18 June 1995. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  13. Williams, Clive (9 September 2006). "No, minister we are not free of terror". The Canberra Times.
  14. "Terror suspects 'sought holy approval'". News.com.au. 5 August 2009. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  15. Ian Lloyd Neubauer (24 September 2014). "ISIS: Teenage Terror Suspect Stabs Australian Police". Time.com. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  16. "Authorities warn of 'new normal' after thwarting terrorist plot - 11/02/2015". Abc.net.au. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  17. "Gunman who shot dead NSW police employee was radicalised youth - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)". Abc.net.au. 3 October 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  18. "Brighton siege: Melbourne police launch terror probe after deadly stand-off with Holsworthy plot gunman". ABC News. ABC. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  19. "Student wearing burqa 'stabbed' man in his sleep while daughter watched". NZ Herald. 10 February 2018. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  20. "Foreign student charged over Melbourne terror attack". NewsComAu. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  21. Toby Crockford (18 December 2020). "Brisbane couple killed at random in 'terrorism event', say police". Brisbane Times.
  22. "Dashcam video emerges of moments before motorway police shooting linked to terror event". 9News. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
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