Events
AVERT regularly hosts events and webinars featuring the latest research on topics related to violent extremism, terrorism, radicalisation and countering violent extremism
Upcoming events
Dr. Emma Belton
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
University of Queensland
Online Event
Zoom
Wednesday, 3 September 2025
11:00 - 12:00 AEST
Public Release of the Profiles of Individual Radicalisation in Australia (PIRA) Database: Applications for Research, Policy and Practice
This webinar presents the Profiles of Individual Radicalisation in Australia (PIRA) database, which records information on individuals in Australia who have radicalised to extremism between 1985 and 2023. The database covers a range of ideologies, including Islamist, far-right, far-left, and single-issue extremism. Using open-source information, PIRA compiles data across 123 variables relating to demographics, personal backgrounds, group dynamics, and contextual factors. Individuals are categorised as either violent or non-violent based on their actions, following a framework closely aligned with the Profiles of Individual Radicalisation in the United States (PIRUS) database.
Established to support research, the open-access version contains de-identified information on 261 extremists, both violent and non-violent, with individuals coded against 114 variables. This webinar will assist researchers, policymakers, and practitioners in better understanding pathways to violent extremism and identifying background characteristics and risk factors linked to radicalisation.
Dr Emma Belton is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Queensland and the Australian National University. Her research concentrates on radicalisation pathways, violent extremist risk assessment, and evaluating countering violent extremism (CVE) initiatives in custodial and community settings. Previously, she was the project manager for an ARC-funded project responsible for developing the Profiles of Individual Radicalisation in Australia (PIRA) dataset, which gathers data on individuals radicalised to extremism and terrorist offenders. She holds a PhD in Criminology from the University of Queensland. Her doctoral research examines the traits of individual radicalisation and violent extremism in Australia, aiming to enhance understanding of risk factors linked to both violent and non-violent extremists. Dr Belton has received training in using the VERA-2R tool and has worked with various stakeholders, including the Department of Home Affairs, the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism, the Department of Justice and Community Safety, and NSW Corrective Services.
Dr. Arie Perliger
Professor of Security Studies, School of Criminology and Justice Studies, University of Massachusetts Lowell
Online event
Zoom
Tuesday, 23 September 2025
7.30 - 8.30 PM EDT
Wednesday, 24 September 2025
09.30 – 10.30 AM AEST
Exploring the Religious Dimensions of American Far-Right Extremist Discourse
Recent research has shown that violent far-right groups are increasingly using Christian language, symbols, and stories. This suggests that religion is being used to help motivate and justify their actions. In this webinar, Dr. Arie Perliger will explore how the core beliefs of these groups influence the way far-right groups use Christian ideas and messages. To explain this, Dr. Perliger studied over 10,000 online posts and messages from six violent far-right communities. Dr. Perliger then analyzed this material to understand how these groups use Christian narratives to build their moral arguments, define who belongs and who doesn’t, promote their views of crisis, and justify violence.
Dr. Arie Perliger is a Professor University of Massachusetts Lowell. Between 2010-2016 he served as a faculty and the Director of Terrorism studies at the United States Military Academy at West Point, and between 2016-2023 as the director of the graduate program in security studies at the School of Criminology and Justice Studies at UMass Lowell.
For more than 20 years, Dr. Perliger has been engaged in an extensive study of issues related to terrorism and political violence, security policy and politics (including the nexus of security and climate change), politics and extremism of the far right in Israel, Europe, and the US, Middle Eastern Politics, and the applicability of Social Network Analysis to the study of political violence. His studies have appeared in nine books and monographs and in numerous articles and book chapters and have been cited in more than 2600 academic texts. His latest book, American Zealots – Inside Right-Wing Domestic Terrorism (Columbia University Press, 2020), provides an in-depth analysis of the history and contemporary trends of the violent American far-right.
Dr. Nell Bennett
Fellow at Blue Security, La Trobe Asia and the Blue Security Consortium
Editor, Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counterterrorism
Online Event
Zoom
Wednesday, 22 October 2025
10:00 - 11:00 AM AEDT
The Bureaucracy of Violence: Organisational Survival and the Challenge of Disengagement
Why do some terrorist groups keep going long after they’ve lost public support or any real chance of success? This webinar draws on new research to offer a fresh perspective: many violent extremist groups act less like movements with a cause, and more like organisations trying to survive.
Instead of focusing only on beliefs or radicalisation, this session looks at how internal structures, routines and self-preservation can drive group behaviour over time. It uses ideas from organisational studies to explain how extremist groups can become stuck in patterns of violence, even when the original goal no longer makes sense.
For practitioners, this matters. If we want to design better counter-terrorism or disengagement strategies, we need to understand the internal workings of these groups: how decisions are made, how leaders hold power and how the group stays together. This is especially important in long-running or fragmented conflicts, where defeating an ideology isn’t enough. The session will offer a new way of thinking about how extremist groups operate and why they can be so hard to shut down.
Nell Bennett is a researcher with expertise in terrorism, political violence and strategic studies. Her work focuses on how violent organisations evolve, endure and end. She is currently a Blue Security Fellow with La Trobe Asia and the Blue Security Consortium, and editor of the Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counterterrorism.
She holds a PhD and Master of Research from Macquarie University and graduated from the Diploma in Law (LPAB) with the Stuart Spencer Prize for Academic Excellence. In addition to her academic work, Nell practises in criminal law at the Victorian Bar. She is the author of Euskadi ta Askatasuna: A Case Study on Terrorist Dynamics and the Fight to Survive (Oxford University Press, 2025) and editor of Strategic Minds and Terrorist Challenges in the Indo-Pacific (Routledge, 2025).
Recent events
Online event
Zoom
Friday, 15 August 2025
11.00 AM – 12.00 PM AEST
The Aesthetic Politics of Far-right Environmentalism
This webinar will introduce a forthcoming book titled The Aesthetic Politics of Far-Right Environmentalism. The book offers a new way to understand how far-right groups around the world use art, imagery, and cultural symbols to spread their political ideas, especially when it comes to environmental issues. It shows how these groups take advantage of real ecological crises to promote an “us versus them” mindset, using powerful visuals and emotionally charged messages to influence how people see urgent social and environmental problems. The presentation will draw on theories by thinkers like Walter Benjamin and Jacques Rancière to explain how these visual strategies help make extreme ideas seem more acceptable, especially to audiences online. The presentation will include case studies which focuses on visual content shared across both mainstream and alternative tech platforms. These include materials produced by European far-right political parties, affiliated groups, and online white supremacist communities, ranging from so-called “tradlife” influencers to the creators of stylised extremist media like fashwave and schizowave.
Imogen Richards is a senior lecturer in Criminology at Deakin University. She researches the political economy of terrorism and counterterrorism, the mediation of political violence, and the performance of security in response to social crisis. She is the author and co-author of Neoliberalism and Neo-Jihadism (2020, Manchester University Press), Criminologists in the Media (2022, Routledge), and Global Heating and the Australian Far Right (2023, Routledge). These works examine the political economy of neo-jihadism, public criminology, and the intersections between climate change and far-right politics in Australia.
Online event
Zoom
Tuesday, 29 July 2025
08:00 - 09:00 AM BST
16:00 - 17:00 AEST
Please note that this webinar will not be recorded.
From Online Risk to Offline Safety: A Framework for Building Online Violent Extremism Prevention
The digital age has transformed how individuals radicalise and mobilise to violence, yet violence prevention systems continue to operate largely offline. This webinar will introduce a new public-health-based framework for digital violence prevention, developed through a decade of innovation and international collaboration.
Drawing on implementation examples from Canada, the United States, and New Zealand, the presentation will outline a model that builds capacity across three key areas: online awareness and referral mechanisms to reach at-risk individuals and concerned bystanders; virtual assessment and triage that ensures both accessibility and clinical integrity; and long-term intervention and case management through multidisciplinary and multimodal support.
The webinar will conclude with ten evidence-based recommendations for online prevention, providing practitioners and policymakers with tools to address current threats and prepare for the evolving digital landscape.
Moonshot is a social impact business with a mission to end online harms, applying evidence, ethics and human rights. Moonshot supports the governments of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States with efforts to improve risk assessment, prevention, and interventions in the online environment. Our work is rooted in the fundamental belief that people can change. We specialise in delivering programmes that connect people at-risk of violence with content and services that reduce their vulnerability to, and support their disengagement from, violent extremism. This work is delivered to the highest data privacy standards, and always protects individual rights and freedoms.
Presenters
Rebecca Visser, International Project Manager
Alexander Sievers, INDEX Program Director
Violence Prevention Network
Connecting P/CVE Practice and Prevention: Introducing INDEX and Its Australian Rollout
This session will introduce participants to the work of the Violence Prevention Network (VPN), an organisation based in Germany with extensive experience in preventing and countering violent extremism through practitioner-led interventions and cross-sector collaboration.
The presentation will focus on INDEX, a global platform developed by VPN to support structured case consultation and foster practitioner engagement across borders. It will outline the platform’s goals, structure, and current activities, and offer participants the opportunity to connect directly with the initiative through membership and ongoing support.
The session will also highlight the rollout of INDEX in Australia, which is being implemented through the Diversions Australia project. This initiative will pilot a new referral pathway that connects CVE programs with relevant cases and equips participating practitioners with access to INDEX tools and training. The training is scheduled for delivery in August 2025 and offers a concrete opportunity for engagement.
This session will be of particular interest to CVE practitioners, program leads, and researchers seeking structured, cross-national tools to strengthen practice-based collaboration and case management in the P/CVE space.
Africa and the New Geopolitics: Violent Extremism, Conflict, and Regional Security – Roundtable Discussion
Dr. Hassan Khannenje and Professor Julian Droogan, AVERT Co-Convener
On 19 June 2025, the AVERT Research Network and Macquarie University co-hosted a timely and thought-provoking roundtable with Dr Hassan Khannenje, Director of the Horn International Institute for Strategic Studies (Kenya). Held at Macquarie University’s City Campus in Sydney, the event brought together researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to engage with Dr Khannenje’s expert insights on Africa’s evolving geopolitical landscape.
In his keynote, Dr Khannenje examined regional security dynamics in East Africa, highlighting current trends in violent extremism, the drivers of conflict, and the importance of resilience-based, locally informed responses. He also explored broader geopolitical developments, including strategic competition among global powers, the implications of the Russo-Ukrainian war, and Africa’s growing agency in shaping international partnerships, particularly in relation to countries such as Kenya. Special attention was given to Africa’s increasing ability to define its own diplomatic relationships, especially with Western nations, amid shifting global alliances and emerging regional interests. The session concluded with a dynamic roundtable discussion and networking opportunity.
We thank the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for facilitating Dr Khannenje’s visit to Australia.
Rethinking religion and radicalisation: The role(s) of religion in far-right extremist movements
While considerable attention has been paid to Islam in discussions of religion and terrorism, far less scrutiny has been directed at how extreme-right movements invoke religion, through symbols, narratives, and beliefs, to advance their agendas. This panel will explore what Alejandro Beutel and Arie Perliger (2025) describe as “the nexus of religious extremism and far-right militancy,” shedding light on an underexamined yet increasingly relevant dimension of violent extremism.
Understanding this intersection is critical for shaping effective countering violent extremism (CVE) policies and programs. Featuring contributors to Rethinking Religion and Radicalization: Terrorism and Violence Twenty Years After 9/11 (Bloomsbury, 2025), this panel will delve into a range of topics, including the role of Orthodox Christianity in far-right ideologies, the emergence of ‘conspirituality’ and militant wellness, and the strategic deployment of religious discourse by radical-right movements in the United States and Israel.
Panelists:
Dr Alejandro Beutel
Prof Arie Perliger
Dr Vivian Gerrand
Prof Michele Grossman AM
Lydia Khalil
Event recordings
2025
AVERT Webinar with Dr. Rik Peels - Cognitive and Behavioral Radicalization: An Explanatory Split
AVERT Webinar with Dr. Joel Busher - Violence escalation and inhibition during far-right protest waves
AVERT Hybrid Event - 2025 Global Terrorism Index Launch
AVERT Webinar with Dr. Julie Chernov Hwang - The Disbanding of Jemaah Islamiyah
AVERT Webinar - Emerging Global Perspectives on Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism
Rethinking religion and radicalisation: The role(s) of religion in far-right extremist movements
AVERT Webinar with Dr. Keiran Hardy - How (Not) to Argue with a Sovereign Citizen
AVERT Webinar with Dr. Imogen Richards - The Aesthetic Politics of Far-right Environmentalism
2024
AVERT Webinar with Dr. Mario Peucker - Understanding and Countering the Rise of the Far-Right
AVERT Webinar with Dr Suraj Lakhani - The nexus between videogaming and violent extremism
AVERT Webinar with Dr Aaron Y Zelin - The Evolution of the Islamic State
AVERT Webinar with Dr Julia Ebner - Is There a Language of Terrorists?
AVERT Webinar with Dr Imogen Richards - The Far Right and the Environment in Australia.
AVERT Webinar with Professor John Horgan - Terrorist Minds
AVERT Webinar - Research on Radicalisation Countering Radicalisation: Where have we got to and ways forward.
AVERT Webinar with Jade Hutchinson - “The Far-Right Online Ecosystem”: How a Network of Platforms and Devices Shape Far-Right Violent Extremism
AVERT Webinar with Dr Lauren Moulds and John Young - Rethinking CVE Interventions: a needs based approach to supporting extremists and terrorist offenders
AVERT Webinar with Professor Stuart Macdonald - “Outlinks”: Violent Jihadist Online Propaganda Dissemination Strategies
2023
AVERT Webinar with Professor Daniel Byman - The October 7th Attacks: Hamas Goals, Israeli Response and Global Impacts
December 2023
AVERT Webinar with Professor Sébastien Brouillette-Alarie - Systematic review of the reliability and validity of risk tools for violent radicalization: Is the evidence base solid?
9 November 2023
AVERT Webinar with Associate Professor David Malet - Ukraine Foreign Fighters: Volunteers on the Right Side or the Far-Right’s ISIS?
1 August 2023
AVERT Webinar with Emma Belton - Understanding the progression to violence: Background characteristics and risk factors for radicalisation to violent extremism
July 6, 2023
AVERT Webinar with Dr Marc-André Argentino - QAnon as a New Religious Movement and its Implications for Violent Extremism
MAY 19, 2023
AVERT Webinar with Dr Vivian Gerrand - Understanding conspiritual radicalisation and militant wellness movements: harnessing alternative health capital?
18 October 2023
AVERT Webinar with Professor Joel Busher - Pathways Towards and Away From Violence During Waves of Far Right Protest
April 19, 2023
AVERT Webinar with Professor Paul Thomas - The State of British Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (P/CVE)
MAR 6, 2023
2022
AVERT Webinar with Dr Imogen Richards - Far Right Identitarianism and the Great Replacement Conspiracy in Australia
AUG 8, 2022
AVERT Webinar with Prof. Dr. Jan-Willem van Prooijen - Belief in Conspiracy Theories and Extremism
JUN 20, 2022
AVERT Webinar with Annemarie van de Weert. - The Role of Subjectivity in the Early Detection of Violent Extremism Among Youth
MAY 18, 2022
AVERT Webinar with Professor Maura Conway - Online Extremism and Terrorism: What to Watch for in 2022
APR 14, 2022
2021
TSAS AVERT Religion and the Far Right 2
OCT 25, 2021
AVERT Webinar: Rethinking US Efforts on Counterterrorism: Toward a Sustainable Plan 20 Years after 9/11
SEP 20, 2021
AVERT Webinar - Afghanistan and the Return of the Taliban
SEP , 2021
AVERT Webinar with Associate Professor Tahir Abbas - Islamophobia, Reciprocal Radicalisation and CVE
AUG, 2021
Ryan Scrivens - Online Behaviour of Right Wing Extremists
AUG 5, 2021
AVERT Webinar with Professor Winnifred Louis: When Deradicalisation Goes Wrong?
JUN 21, 2021
Joint AVERT-TSAS Webinar: Religion and the Far Right
JUN 21, 2021
AVERT Webinar: Critical Perspectives on CVE and PVE
MAY 31, 2021
AVERT Speaker Series: Dr Shiri Krebs on “Counterterrorism & Predictive Technologies”
MAR 19, 2021
2020
AVERT International Speaker Series: Maura Conway
DEC 11, 2020
AVERT International Speaker Series: John Horgan
NOV 20, 2020
AVERT International Speaker Series: Dr Haroro J. Ingram and Dr Craig Whiteside
NOV 17, 2020
AVERT Webinar with Dr Helen Young
NOV 8, 2020
AVERT International Speaker Series: John Morrison on “Talking Stagnation”
OCT 20, 2020