Australia deteriorates in terror rankings after Bondi
Australia has dropped to its worst ranking on a terrorism index following the deadly Bondi massacre as Western nations recorded an increase in deaths in 2025.
Australia has recorded one of the largest slides down a global terrorism ranking index following the Bondi terrorist attack, when 15 people were killed by two gunmen.
Menorah on bridge at Bondi Beach in memory of the victims of the Chanukah shooting
The antisemitic attack that targeted a Jewish Chanukah festival at Australia’s most famous beach was the worst terror attack on home soil.
Australia fell 14 places to its worst position of 31 on the index.
There was a 280 percent increase in terrorism deaths in Western countries in 2025, up to 57, driven by a small number of high-casualty attacks, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace.
Attacks were largely driven by antisemitism, Islamophobia and political terrorism.
Youth racialization and lone-wolf actors are spurring terrorism in the West, with children and teens accounting for two out of five terrorism-related investigations in Europe and North America in 2025, marking a threefold increase since 2001.
It correlates with what Australia is experiencing, with federal police and ASIO warning of increased youth radicalisation.
But the Western figures contrast to a global decline, with deaths from terrorism dropping to 5582, down 28 per cent, and the number of attacks declining to 2944, a 22 per cent fall to mark the lowest number since 2007.
Australia’s decrease in the ranks reflected the shift to high-impact attacks, institute founder and executive chairman Steve Killelea said.
“Although Australia remains one of the safest countries in the world, the Bondi Beach attack highlights how a single incident can significantly affect a country’s terrorism impact score,” he said.
“While global terrorism continues to be concentrated in conflict zones, the risk in stable countries increasingly comes from isolated or small-scale actors radicalised online.
“Terrorism in Western countries today is less about organised networks and more about lone actors. That makes it harder to predict and prevent.”
There have been 25 terrorism deaths in Australia since 2014, with 20 of these in the past five years, according to the institute.
Islamic State – the ideology alleged to have inspired the Bondi gunmen – and its affiliated groups remained the deadliest terrorist organisation.
They were responsible for about one-in-six attacks worldwide.
Iran remains a risk, as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, designated a terrorist organisation in Australia after directing antisemitic attacks on Australian soil, has been linked to 157 terrorism plots across 15 nations in the past five years.
Pakistan leads the ranking, with 1,139 deaths and 1045 incidents in 2025, the highest since 2013.
By: Dominic Giannini/AAP On: 19/03/2026 16:00
