In June, a Deakin-led group of scholars ascended the steps of Victoria’s Parliament House on Spring Street to advise a Senate inquiry into right-wing extremist movements in Australia.
Along with 43 other published contributors, the group was intent on informing policy and parliamentary decision-making on the topic, which encompasses counterterrorism, discrimination, youth, social media and more.
The scholars represented two research groups that are led by the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation (ADI):
- the Centre for Resilient and Inclusive Societies (CRIS), a Victorian Government-funded consortium that conducts research in areas such as racism, extremism and discrimination; and
- the Addressing Violent Extremism and Radicalisation to Terrorism (AVERT) Research Network, a multidisciplinary multi-institutional research network.
Submitting to the inquiry
The Senate inquiry was announced in December 2023, launching an open call for submissions.
For Professor Michele Grossman AM, the process was a familiar one; this was the fifth inquiry that she has contributed to in her capacity as CRIS Director.
With submissions written to best respond to a given inquiry’s terms of reference, sections are typically delegated to each scholar who opts to be part of the project.
‘As a team, you collectively assign each person a section. You write your part, then bring everyone’s parts together and edit to form one cohesive narrative,’ Professor Grossman explains. The submission was pulled together from the expertise of each researcher – Professor Grossman’s focus being on young people and countering violent extremism.
Once the call to speak to the inquiry arrives, it’s a matter of organising who will speak and on what topic.
For this inquiry, speakers were asked to address a panel, and while Professor Grossman stresses that the process is very orderly, with a managing committee chair, she says it’s still necessary to be prepared for a wide range of questions.
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