In 2002, as part of the fight against terrorism worldwide, the Australian Parliament passed the Security Legislation Amendment (Terrorism) Act 2002 "enabling Australian governments to deal with organisations involved in terrorism," and empowered the Australian government to list an organisation as a terrorist organisation, and inserted a range of terrorist organisation offences into the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth). For example, under the law it is an offense to materially support or be supported by such organisations. Under Division 103 of the Criminal Code, it is illegal to finance terrorism.
For listing as a terrorist organisation, an organisation may be found to be such by a court as part of a prosecution for a terrorist offence or the same may be specified in regulations upon the motion of the Attorney-General of Australia under Division 102 of the Criminal Code Act 1995. Listing, de-listing and re-listing follows a protocol that mainly involves the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation and the Attorney-General's Department.
As of November 2016, the Australian government has listed 20 foreign organisations as terrorist organisations. All but one of those organisations are associated with Islamist ideology. The remaining organisation is the Kurdistan Workers Party.
Abu Sayyaf Group
Al-Murabitun
Al-Qa'ida (AQ)
Al-Qa'ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)
Al-Qa'ida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)
Al-Shabaab
Ansar al-Islam
Boko Haram
Hamas's Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades
Hizballah's External Security Organisation (ESO)
Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
Islamic State
Jabhat al-Nusra
Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM)
Jamiat ul-Ansar
Jemaah Islamiyah (JI)
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)
Lashkar i Jhangvi (LeJ)
Lashkar-e-Tayyiba
Palestinian Islamic Jihad
In addition, Hamas was listed in July 2014. It was removed from the list by January 2015.
Abu Sayyaf group — from a base in the Southern islands of the Philippines, the group has affirmed a goal of creating a pan-Islamic superstate across Southeast Asia.
Al Qaeda — a militant Qutbist Sunni Islamist terrorist organization established in 1988.
Tanzim Qa'idat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn (the al-Zarqawi group, also known as al Qa'ida in Iraq, or The Organization for the Foundation of the Holy Struggle in Mesopotamia. — the organisation is associated with Al-Qa'ida and is a successor of Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (Arabic: جماعة التوحيد والجهاد) - the Unification (Monotheism) and the Holy Struggle Group)
Ansar al-Sunna (formerly known as Ansar Al-Islam).
Armed Islamic group — based in northern and central Iraq, the group includes Kurdish groups, Sunni Arab religious radicals, and others.
Asbat al-Ansar ("the League of the Followers" or "Partisans’ League") — an organization of Sunni Islamists based in southern Lebanon.
Egyptian Islamic Jihad, also called Islamic Jihad and the Jihad Group — associated with the Muslim Brotherhood, and have declared a goal to overthrow the Egyptian Government and replace it with an Islamic state.
Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades — a militant wing of Hamas (Arabic: حركة حماس; acronym: Arabic: حركة المقاومة الاسلامية, or Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya or "Islamic Resistance Movement".
Hizballah External Security Organisation (Al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya - "The Islamic Resistance"). Hezbollah (Arabic: حزب الله ḥizbu-llāh, meaning "party of God") is a Shi'a Islamic political and paramilitary organization based in Lebanon. It propounds a version of Islamic Shi'a ideology developed by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
The Islamic Army of Aden —a terrorist group based in southern Yemen.
Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, also known as the Islamic Party of Turkestan — an Islamist terrorist organization within the Islamic Movement of Central Asia that has operated in and beyond Uzbekistan since 1998. The IMU's goal is to overthrow the Government of Uzbekistan and replace it with an Islamic State.
Jaish-e-Mohammed (literally The Army of Muhammad) — a major Islamic militant organization in South Asia, formed in 1994 and based in the Pakistan. The group's primary objective is to end India's rule in Kashmir.
Jamiat ul-Ansar (formerly known as Harakat Ul-Mujahideen) — a militant Islamist organization founded in 1993 that is particularly active in Jammu and Kashmir.
Jemaah Islamiyah — a Southeast Asian Islamist organization dedicated to the establishment of a Daulah Islamiyah (pan-Islamic superstate in Southeast Asia).
Lashkar i Jhangvi (English: Army of Jhang) — a Wahabi Islamic terrorist organization affiliated with Al Qaeda that has operated in Pakistan since 1997 with a particular focus upon victimising the Pakistani Shia Muslim community.
Lashkar-e-Tayyiba. This organisation's primary objectives are to end Indian rule in Jammu and Kashmir, and to establish Islamic rule over all of India and the world
Palestinian Islamic Jihad — an organisation whose declared goal is the destruction of Israel and replacement it with a Palestinian Islamic state.
Salafist Group for Call and Combat — a militant Wahhabist Sunni Islamist group which aims to overthrow the Algerian government and institute an Islamic state.
Kurdistan Workers Party — a marxist group based in southern Turkey, northern parts of Iraq, Iran, Syria listed since 15 December 2005.
