Now lawDefence & Security Introduced in the House of Representatives, 08 Oct 2025

Australia can now list foreign state terror sponsors

The domestic spy agency found Iran's government was behind two attacks on Jewish Australians in 2024. So Parliament made a way to list foreign government bodies as terror sponsors. Joining, funding or helping a listed body is now a crime.

Official name: Criminal Code Amendment (State Sponsors of Terrorism) Bill 2025

Who it affects

• People with links to a listed foreign government body: Being a member of it, funding it or helping it could mean jail.
• Family members and worshippers: Talking with a close relative about family matters is not a crime. Nor is public religious worship.
• Aid workers: Contact only to give aid to people in need is let off. Staff of the United Nations and the Red Cross have a defence.
• Lawyers: You can be paid by a listed body to give legal advice or defend people. That is not a crime.
• Victims of state terror: You can now sue a foreign country in Australian courts over state terror. Its usual shield from being sued no longer applies.

Iran linked to antisemitic attacks

On 26 August 2025, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese spoke about two attacks. He said there was strong spy evidence that Iran's government was behind them. Both attacks targeted Jewish Australians.

One was the attack on Lewis' Continental Kitchen, a food business in Sydney, on 20 October 2024. The other was the attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne on 6 December 2024. A synagogue is a Jewish place of worship.

The domestic spy agency linked the attacks to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. In this article we call it the Revolutionary Guard. It is a branch of Iran's armed forces. The spy agency said it used a web of hired go-betweens to hide its role. The government sent home Iran's ambassador and three other diplomats. An ambassador is a country's top official in another country. Diplomats are officials who speak for their country overseas.

The government also said it wanted to list the Revolutionary Guard as a terror group. But Australia's rules for terror groups did not cover parts of a foreign government. In 2023 the government said it could not list the Revolutionary Guard for that reason.

This law makes a new, separate system for foreign government bodies. Attorney-General Michelle Rowland, the minister for the law, brought it in. The government's full notes on the bill were not in the papers used here. So this article draws on the Parliamentary Library's guide and a later add-on to the notes. The Library works for all MPs and takes no side.

How a body gets listed

A foreign government body means a government of a foreign country, or part of one. It can also mean one of its official bodies. It does not mean the whole country.

The Governor-General can list one as a state sponsor of terrorism. The Governor-General is the King's representative in Australia. This is done by detailed rules the government writes without a new vote.

Before that, the minister for the Australian Federal Police, the national police force, must be sure of one thing. The body must have taken part in a terror attack aimed at Australia, or urged one. In this article we call that minister the police minister.

Taking part can mean planning, getting ready, helping or carrying out an attack. Urging includes cheering on an attack or giving orders. It also includes praising an attack when that could lead someone to act.

An attack is aimed at Australia if it happens here. It also counts if it harms Australians, Australian property or the Australian public. And it counts if it aims to scare an Australian government or the public.

The Foreign Affairs Minister must agree in writing. The leader of the main party not in government must be told. A body can be listed for attacks that happened before the law started, such as the 2024 attacks.

A group of MPs and senators who watch over spy and police agencies can review a listing. Parliament can vote to cancel the listing.

Coming off the list

The police minister can remove a listing if it is no longer right. The minister can do this on their own. They can also do it when the group of MPs or the foreign country asks.

The minister must talk with the Foreign Affairs Minister first. A body taken off can be listed again later.

Crimes about state terror acts

A state terror attack is one carried out by a listed body or one of its members. It includes attacks done with others, such as hired criminals.

Carrying out a state terror attack is now a crime. So is training for one or holding things linked to one. So is making papers to help one, or doing anything else to plan one. The planning crime carries up to life in jail.

A second group of crimes targets a listed body that trains, supplies or readies outside groups to carry out attacks. This covers hired go-betweens. The spy agency said the Revolutionary Guard relied on them.

Paying for a state terror attack aimed at Australia is also a crime. That includes giving money when a person does not care whether it will pay for an attack.

Dealing with listed bodies

The law makes it a crime to run a listed body's work or be a member. Recruiting for it or training with it are crimes. So are funding it, taking money from it, or giving it support.

Some of these carry longer jail terms when the person knows the body is listed. Shorter terms apply when they did not care to check. The prosecutor, the lawyer who brings the case for the government, does not have to prove the person knew the body was listed. A person can still argue they made an honest mistake.

It is also a crime to deal with a listed body on 2 or more occasions. There are let-offs. These cover family matters with a close relative, public religious worship, aid to people in need, and legal advice.

The rule also does not apply where it would break the freedom to talk about politics. The Constitution, Australia's top law, protects that freedom.

Say a person meets a member of a listed body twice to help set up a payment for it. That could be a crime. Say instead they phone a cousin who works there to talk about a family wedding. That fits the family let-off.

There are also defences for dealings a person cannot avoid. One is buying a basic service when there is no other real choice. Others are following a court order or doing a public official's job. Working for the United Nations or the Red Cross is another.

How cases work

The crimes apply anywhere in the world. A case can only go to court if the Attorney-General agrees in writing. A person can still be arrested, charged and held before that.

For some let-offs, the accused must point to evidence that the let-off applies. For two defences, the accused must prove them. One is about leaving a listed body. The other is about money received for legal and other services.

A group of senators asked about these rules. The government then gave a fuller reason for them in an add-on to its notes.

State laws keep working alongside the new crimes. A person punished under a state law cannot be punished again under this law for the same act.

Control orders and other powers

Part 2 of the law stretches some existing anti-terror orders to cover state sponsors and state terror attacks.

These include control orders. A court uses them to set limits on a person. They also include short holding orders. These let police hold a person for up to 48 hours to stop an attack.

They also include orders made after a jail term ends. These can keep a person who did a terror crime in prison, or watched, after their sentence.

Terror sponsor states lose immunity

Part 3 makes matching changes across about 20 other federal laws. It bans showing or selling the symbols a listed body uses in public. A country's national flag on its own is not banned.

It also changes the Foreign States Immunities Act 1985. Normally foreign countries cannot be sued in Australian courts. Under this law, that shield does not apply in cases about state terror.

Part 4 makes small technical fixes. They cover sentencing rules in the Crimes Act 1914, a main national law on crime. They also cover the existing crimes about terror symbols.

Start date

This bill is now law. It was brought into the House of Representatives on 8 October 2025. That is the house of Parliament where the government sits. The House passed it on 29 October 2025. The Senate passed it on 6 November 2025. It was signed into law the same day as Act number 60 of 2025.

The main parts, Parts 1 to 3, start on a date the government sets. That allows time to talk with the states. If no date is set within 6 months of the law being signed, those parts are cancelled. Part 4 started the day after the law was signed.

How they voted

Its journey through Parliament

Official sources

• Bill page on aph.gov.au
• Text of the bill
• Explanatory memorandum
• Bills Digest

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