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.

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. 

Associate Professor Josh Roose’s contribution reflected his significant research in political and religious violent extremism, including the intersection of masculinities and what pulls people into extremist views.

After the cut-off date, submissions are vetted and reviewed, then contributors are chosen to speak as witnesses to the Senate inquiry. For the CRIS and AVERT teams, this meant preparing for the trip to Spring Street.

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. 

L-R: CRIS representatives Mark Duckworth, Associate Professor Josh Roose, Professor Michele Grossman AM, and AVERT representatives Lydia Khalil, Dr Vivian Gerrand and Dr Helen Young.

For the June inquiry, each group member was assigned the lead on a cluster of potential topics. After Professor Grossman delivered a three minute summary on behalf of CRIS, and Lydia Khalil on behalf of AVERT, the panel members asked their questions. 

Associate Professor Roose reiterates the responsibility attached to contributing to this process, with all comments permanently put on the parliamentary record for reference in years to come.

Contributing to the inquiry also helps to raise Deakin’s profile and positions ADI as a major centre of knowledge on the topic. 

The work of the CRIS and AVERT teams will inform the final report of the parliamentary hearing. The results of the inquiry can determine policy development, how research funding is allocated in certain areas of interest, and how much attention is paid to the issue in the future.

In a previous Victorian Parliamentary inquiry on far-right extremism in 2022, the Government responded with a series of recommendations in which CRIS was extensively cited. Professor Grossman hopes CRIS’s contribution to the current Senate inquiry will have a similar impact.