Sydney: Authorities in the Australian state of Queensland have charged a teenager with terrorism offences over an alleged plot to attack a school, local media reported on Tuesday.
Officers from the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Queensland Joint Counter-Terrorism Team arrested the 16-year-old in August after he allegedly tried to buy firearms online, reports Xinhua news agency, quoting News Corp Australia newspapers.
He has been charged with one count of acts done in preparation for, or planning, terrorist attacks under federal criminal law.
If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
Authorities reportedly believe he was planning to use the firearms in an attack on a school in the northern suburbs of Brisbane, the state capital and Australia’s third-largest city.
The AFP said that an investigation was underway but that there was no ongoing threat to the Australian public.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in August raised Australia’s official terror threat level from “possible” to “probable” on the advice of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO).
Director-General of ASIO Mike Burgess said at the time that more Australians are being radicalised and being radicalised more quickly and issued a warning that a growing number of Australians are willing to use violence to advance their cause.
–IANS