Australia to revamp security with new terror alert system

Sydney

Australia on Thursday announced a clearer terror alert system as the country faces what Prime Minister Tony Abbott called the worst extremist threat in its history, with the government outlining a long-term strategy to tackle the scourge.

The new system will be introduced later this year, subject to community consultation, with the new threat levels to be: certain, expected, probable, possible and not expected, which Abbott said would be much easier for the public to understand. 

"At the moment, the terrorist alert levels are extreme, high, medium and low and there's a bit of interpretation involved in them," he said after a summit in Sydney with the country's eight state and territory leaders.

"Any changes to the threat level under the new system will be accompanied by a statement providing more information on what the new threat level means, where the threat is coming from, what the potential targets are and the means by which an attack may be perpetrated."

The government has been increasingly concerned about the flow of fighters to Iraq and Syria to join groups such as Islamic State, with some 120 Australians already in the region and 160 actively supporting extremist organisations through financing and recruitment.