Australian youth anti-radicalisation program focuses on social cohesion

Australia's New South Wales government has revealed a suite of sweeping measures to prevent youth radicalization, exactly one month since a teenager shot dead a police accountant in an act of terror.

Australian authorities have been grappling with a rise in violence perpetrated by teenagers while trying to stem the flow of those attempted to join terror organizations fighting in the Middle East.

The killing of Police accountant Curtis Cheng by an Iraqi-Kurd teenager exactly one month ago was the second attack on an Australian police officer and only the latest in a spate of violence linked to Islamic extremism.

The measures announced on Monday by New South Wales Premier Mike Baird focus on humanitarian projects for community cohesion and cultural harmony as well as specialist councillors and support teams to identify vulnerable youth in schools.

"I have always said, we are much stronger united than divided, and the measures announced today are designed to assist with precisely that," Baird said.

Experts have previously criticized Australia's approach to tackling extremism, focusing on national security and the "war on terror" rather than social inclusion that has been attributed to creating a higher than average number of disaffected and violent Muslim teens.

Australia's government has ramped up security spending over the past two years while introducing new measures to monitor domestic communications more easily and banning travel to conflict zones.

The new laws have been attributed to stopping numerous attacks including a planned attack on Australia's national remembrance, or ANZAC day earlier this year.

Monday's announcement came only a day after outspoken Australian Islamic activist group Hizb ut-Tahrir told followers they should not submit to an oppressive campaign of "forced assimilation" such as singing the Australia's national anthem and pledging support to Australia's values in its citizenship oath. Endit