Former head of WA’s countering violence extremism program warns radicalised individuals getting younger

The former coordinator of WA’s countering violence extremism program says his “biggest fear” is that people showing signs of radicalisation “seem to be younger and younger”. John Lehane, who managed the little-known program aimed at deradicalising people deemed at risk of becoming violent extremists for three years up until March last year, has provided an extraordinary insight into its inner workings. The program was thrust into the spotlight following the tragic police shooting of a mentally unwell Perth teenager after he stabbed a man in the back. It has since emerged that the Rossmoyne Senior High School student at the centre of the May 4 attack — identified as James — had become “very radicalised” in the lead-up to his death despite spending two years in the program. Sen. Sgt Lehane has won a prestigious Churchill Fellowship to travel overseas to study how community awareness strategies are used in other countries to combat violent extremism, race hate and conspiracy theories. While he would not comment on any individual, Sen. Sgt Lehane said to get into the CVE program a person had to pose a “real threat” to the community. “This program doesn’t have an age barrier,” he said. “But my biggest fear ... is that they seem to be younger and younger.” His concerns were echoed by one of the Australian Federal Police’s top officers, Deputy Commissioner Krissy Barrett, who warned there was an “increasing prevalence of youth being identified as adopting violent extremist ideologies” across Australia. Sen. Sgt Lehane will leave in July to visit the US, Canada, the UK, Belgium, and the Netherlands to talk to world experts about the effectiveness of their strategies. “One of my biggest concerns — and that’s why I’m doing this fellowship — is that it’s really unknown as to the volume of people who are out there that are actually feeling this way,” he said. “A lot of the platforms that they go on, they’re very deep, they’re very hard to get into, they’re encrypted — so it’s very hard to detect. “But usually it’s those closest to them that can realise the differences in them, or the changes, and identify that they may be getting involved in something they shouldn’t be. “So part of my Churchill fellowship is to actually really look at those community strategies, families and communities who are closest to that individual, to identify that they may be dealing with something they shouldn’t be.” Sen. Sgt Lehane — who has more than 35 years experience as a police officer and has completed a master’s thesis on terrorism — warned the “vast majority” of people caught up in extremist ideology were viewing it online. “So families have to take a lot of responsibility about what their children are watching and listening to and looking at,“ he said. “There’s going to be indicators there ... that something is not quite right.” Signs could include becoming more secretive, moody or aggressive or bringing home books containing hateful rhetoric. “It may be something on Adolf Hitler, or it might be seeing an ISIS flag in the bedroom or something like that,” he said. Sen. Sgt Lehane said the program, which sat under community engagement during his tenure, has since moved to the State Security Investigations Unit. When he was in charge, individuals were identified, and then experts met to decide if the concerns were serious enough to consider intervention. “If they are looking at an ideology where they want to cause harm to the community based on that ideology, then that’s what puts the flag up,” he said. “Whether it be political or religious ... it could be extreme right wing, or it could be Islamic inspired.” Young men who were already vulnerable because they were depressed or autistic were more likely to be targeted online. The program — which was completely voluntary — was based on therapeutic case management, which included a mental health assessment. “We have a case manager assigned to the individual where they have a number of discussions over a lengthy period of time, just to try and sort out what makes that person tick ... what their ideology is,” he said. “And then what we try to do is build up on the protective behaviours around them, whether it be education, employment, housing, and through Commonwealth funding ... we can then offer them services to try and assist them in that way.” For example, he said “clients” who showed interest in art or music could be given tuition to help cut the time they spent online “drawing in all of this bad stuff”. “There’s a whole range. Really, nothing’s off the table,” he said. “It’s just a matter of what their interest is and what we identify as the gaps in the lives that we’re trying to assist them with. It’s very intensive.” Sen. Sgt Lehane said leaders in religious communities often stepped in to help out. “Depending on the client themselves, for example, if they’re more Islamic inspired, they might be allocated an Imam as a mentor to try and moderate the thinking and beliefs,” he said. “Someone who can have a discussion with them and debate with them around what their ideology is, to try and set them on the right path.” The shooting and the events surrounding James’ death were taken so seriously by the AFP that Ms Barrett travelled to Perth last week to meet with WA Police officers and the WA Joint Counter Terrorism Team, which is leading the investigation. “Minors who adhere to a violent extremist ideology can present a threat similar to that posed by adults,” Ms Barrett told The West Australian. “Despite their young age, some of these youths present significant risks to the Australian community, which is resulting in law enforcement intervention.” Ms Barrett said the AFP was committed to putting in place “therapeutic pathways” as a means to divert young extremists away from the criminal justice system. “I want to reassure parents that coming forward to inform law enforcement if they are worried about their child becoming radicalised is absolutely the right thing to do, and they should have confidence that it will trigger the right interventions being implemented,” she said. Since its establishment in 2015, WA’s CVE program has supported 14 people. It currently has nine active participants, including five juveniles.