Australian Legal Responses to Foreign Fighters

Abstract

In 2014–2015, the Abbott government introduced new counter-terrorism laws into the Federal Parliament. These laws were portrayed as a response to the threat of foreign fighters returning from Iraq and Syria, and the ongoing problem of home-grown terrorism. The laws also dealt with a wider range of matters, including whistleblowing by intelligence officers and the retention of metadata. This article details these laws with a view to analysing whether they were needed and are likely to be effective, the process by which they were enacted and their impact on democratic and other rights, so that lessons may be drawn more generally for the making of future counter-terrorism laws in Australia.