The AVERT Research Network

The Addressing Violent Extremism and Radicalisation to Terrorism (AVERT) Research Network is a multidisciplinary multi-institutional research network based in Melbourne, Australia supported by Deakin University’s Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation (ADI). AVERT members conduct research into a wide array of topics related to terrorism, radicalisation, and violent extremism. Our Network is comprised of highly engaged and critically informed social science, humanities and multidisciplinary research academics from a variety of universities and research institutions who believe in conducting meaningful evidence-based research for the public good.

We aim to understand and reduce the social harms created by violent extremism

The AVERT Network brings together researchers, community, government and civil society stakeholders to understand and reduce the social harms created by terrorism and violent extremism as well as the effects of counter extremism and counterterrorism implications and impacts on the fabric of our local, national and transnational communities.

AVERT members collaborate with a wide range of community, government and civil society organisations

As an Australian based research network, we remain strongly grounded in our local context while engaging globally with colleagues, institutions and issues and trends  

Seminar and Webinar Recordings

AVERT Webinar - Rethinking CVE Interventions: a needs based approach to supporting extremists and terrorist offenders with Dr Lauren Moulds and John Young

MARCH 14, 2024

AVERT Webinar with Professor Stuart Macdonald - “Outlinks”: Violent Jihadist Online Propaganda Dissemination Strategies.

FEBRUARY 22, 2024

AVERT Webinar with Professor Daniel Byman - The October 7th Attacks: Hamas Goals, Israeli Response and Global Impacts

DECEMBER 2023

AVERT Webinar – Systematic review of the reliability and validity of risk tools for violent radicalization: Is the evidence base solid? with Professor Sébastien Brouillette-Alarie

NOVEMBER 9, 2023

Latest News

AVERT Webinar - April 2024

“The Far-Right Online Ecosystem”: How a Network of Platforms and Devices Shape Far-Right Violent Extremism

Jade Hutchinson
Macquarie University and the University of Groningen

10.00 - 11.00am, Thursday 18 April (AEST)

Register here.

The idea that violent extremists inhabit an ‘online ecosystem’ has been popularized by scholars and practitioners in recent years. Violent extremists are said to use this online ‘ecosystem’ to access outcomes that were previously unattainable. Yet there remain fundamental gaps in understanding the benefits and limits of drawing on ecology to understand online violent extremism. This presentation provides a conceptual and empirical overview of how networks of platforms and devices shape far-right violent extremism in the context of an “online extremist ecosystem.” Drawing on current PhD research into how “online extremist ecosystems” operate and their effects, issues of ecosystem conceptualisation, and the challenges associated with taking reference from ecology or developing an ecological framework in violent extremism studies are discussed. 

About the speaker

Mr Jade Hutchinson is a Cotutelle Doctoral Candidate in the Department of Security Studies and Criminology at Macquarie University (Australia) and Centre for Media and Journalism Studies at the University of Groningen (The Netherlands). Jade’s research is focused on countering far-right extremism and violence emerging from digital media ecosystems, examining the relationship between ideological and conspiratorial beliefs, sociotechnical systems, and other factors pertaining to the harms caused by extremist narratives and the technologies used to bring them into view. Jade’s current research is concentrated on the ways social media hardware devices and software design shapes far-right extremists’ disposition as well as their engagement in extremist violence in the Australian and Canadian context. Jade’s approach relies on sociotechnical expertise and empirically validated ecological frameworks to devise practices that seek to counter undemocratic and personally unsustainable beliefs or behaviours enculturated in digital media ecosystems. Jade has maintained and continues to develop international memberships and partnerships between academic organisations and private companies with the aim to produce plausible, multi-stakeholder solutions to issues related to digital media technologies and online violent extremist communities.

AVERT Commentary

Featured
Why is the Sydney church stabbing an act of terrorism, but the Bondi tragedy isn’t?
Why is the Sydney church stabbing an act of terrorism, but the Bondi tragedy isn’t?

Just days after the deadly Westfield Bondi attacks, a second knife attack in Sydney has generated widespread shock and grief. This time, a 16-year-old entered an Assyrian church and rushed forward to stab the popular bishop presiding over a service, together with a priest who rushed to his defence. The shocking events were captured on the church’s video stream, and the news quickly reached thousands of members of Sydney’s large Assyrian community.

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Islamic State terror attack in Moscow a grim acknowledgement of global power status Russia seeks
Islamic State terror attack in Moscow a grim acknowledgement of global power status Russia seeks

President Vladimir Putin has long sought to restore Russia’s global status after the personally and nationally humiliating defeat of the Cold War. One of the ways he has done so is through Russia’s involvement in the Middle East – highlighted by Russia’s 2015 military intervention in Syria but also evidenced in many other ways. By acting as a spoiler in Afghanistan, Putin also sought to accelerate and take advantage of the United States’ own humiliating withdrawal from the region to shore up Russia’s position as a major power.

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Lawful Extremism
Lawful Extremism

Most contemporary research on extremism focuses on fringe groups that seek to overturn the status quo in a given society. Therefore, in the academic literature, we find a widespread, but not universal, belief that extremism is by definition a fringe behavior that runs counter to dominant social norms. In this paper, I make the case that regardless of whether the extremist group is fringe or dominant, extremist beliefs do not fundamentally change in character.

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What is ‘reverse racism’ – and what’s wrong with the term?
What is ‘reverse racism’ – and what’s wrong with the term?

MARIO PEUCKER • July 12, 2023
“Reverse racism” is sometimes used to describe situations where white people believe they are negatively stereotyped or discriminated against because of their whiteness – or treated less favourably than people of colour.

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Why government action to thwart neo-Nazi groups is far more difficult than it appears
Why government action to thwart neo-Nazi groups is far more difficult than it appears

GREG BARTON • May 18, 2023

“Hate and prejudice hold no place in our community and we will not tolerate any offensive and abhorrent anti-social behaviour.” This statement by a Victoria Police spokeswoman could not have been clearer. Hate and prejudice are most certainly not welcome in one of the world’s most diverse and successful multicultural communities.

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 Latest News

Impact
AVERT responds to tragic events in Sydney
AVERT responds to tragic events in Sydney

A main mission of the AVERT Research Network is engaging with the broader public about issues related to terrorism and violent extremism.   In a space with a lot of commentary and opinions, we are committed to sharing evidence based knowledge to inform public discourse and encourage evidence-based policy and practice. 

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AVERT Engagement with the International Academic Partnerships for Science and Security (IAPSS)
AVERT Engagement with the International Academic Partnerships for Science and Security (IAPSS)

In March 2024, the AVERT Research Network took part in the inaugural conference of the International Academic Partnerships for Science and Security (IAPSS). IAPSS is an international initiative, funded by the US Department of Homeland Security and co-led by the US-based National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center (NCITE) and the UK-based Centre for Research and Evidence on Security Threats (CREST). The objective of IAPSS is to facilitate knowledge sharing and collaboration between research networks among the Five Eyes plus, with a focus on preventing and countering violent extremism and terrorism.

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The changing nature of violent extremism: Challenges in a new age
The changing nature of violent extremism: Challenges in a new age

AVERT Co-Convenors Lydia Khalil and Michele Grossman, and AVERT Executive Committee member Emily Corner recently appeared on the National Security Podcast to discuss the changing nature of violent extremism.

In this recent episode, entitled, ‘The changing nature of violent extremism: challenges in a new age’, Lydia Khalil, Michele Grossman and Emily Corner joined Gai Brodtmann to discuss the evolution of violent extremism, and how these changes create new challenges for policymakers.

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Haily Tran takes on new role as AVERT HDR Coordinator
Haily Tran takes on new role as AVERT HDR Coordinator

We are excited to announce that Haily Tran has taken on the role of HDR Coordinator for the AVERT Research Network. This is a new and important role within the Network. It reflects the AVERT’s commitment to featuring new and emerging researchers who are conducting work in terrorism and violent extremism.

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