AFP invesigations targetting social cohesion

Krissy Barrett APM

Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police

Edmund Barton Building, Kings Avenue

Barton ACT 2600

By email: commissioner@afp.gov.au

Dear Commissioner,

NATIONAL SECURITY INVESTIGATIONS TEAM TARGETING THREATS TO SOCIAL COHESION

The Queensland Council for Civil Liberties (QCCL) is a voluntary organisation concerned with the protection of individual rights and civil liberties. It was founded in 1966 in order to protect and promote the human rights and freedoms of Queensland citizens.

We write in relation to the new ‘National Security Investigations (NSI) team’ set up this year to ‘target groups causing harm to Australia’s social cohesion.’ [1] In its media release announcing the same on 8 October 2025 the AFP stated that its remit was to ‘target those attempting to damage social cohesion through a four-pronged strategy,’ and quoted a statement by you to the effect that much of the conduct designated as threatening ‘social cohesion’ did not ‘meet the threshold of terrorism’.[2]

Moreover, we refer to the appearance of Acting Deputy Commissioner Ryan before the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters of 31 October 2025. Mr Ryan is quoted as saying that the AFP had shifted focus to ‘social cohesion’.[3] He then refers to the National Socialist Network’s intention to found a political party and states that:

We do see that their activity, more broadly, doesn't actually hit a threshold in terms of criminal offending, but the behaviour is concerning in terms of… a threshold that would be considered not violent behaviour, but disturbing behaviour, in terms of what it means for how people feel about their safety and how they feel about the social cohesion aspects (our emphasis).[4]

The QCCL does not endorse the tenets of national socialism in any way. However, we have concerns about members of a criminal law enforcement agency taking action to ‘disrupt’ the lawful conduct of members of the Australian community because the conduct is denominated a ‘threat to social cohesion.’ It seems to us that it is not the role of law enforcement in a liberal democracy to police citizens’ lawful participation in the political process, notwithstanding that the subject matter ideology may be offensive to many people.

Therefore, our questions to you are as follows:

1.         What is the legal source of the AFP’s power to set up a NSI team to target threats to social cohesion?;

2.         How does the AFP define both ‘social cohesion’ and threats to the same?; and

3.         What does the new NSI team intend to do to ‘target’ in particular conduct that does not constitute crime or terrorism? 

We consider these questions to be even more important in the light of the understandable outrage over the appalling events at Bondi. However, it has always been our position that public policy must be made in circumstances of calm reflection and not the desire for revenge so that the fundamental rights are respected in the response to those types of event.

[1]Australian Federal Police,  ‘AFP launches National Security Investigations teams to target groups causing harm to social cohesion’ (Media release, 8 October 2025) <https://www.afp.gov.au/news-centre/media-release/afp-launches-national-security-investigations-teams-target-groups-causing>.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters, Commonwealth Parliament, Inquiry into the 2025 Federal Election, 28.

[4] Ibid.