A scenario based on the deadly Bondi Junction shopping centre stabbings in 2024 has been used by Queensland police as part of specialist counterterrorism training.
The Queensland Police Service has conducted training operations in shopping centres and at Brisbane’s Lang Park stadium to ensure officers are prepared to respond to a terror-related threat or incident in a crowded venue.
Specialist Operations Deputy Commissioner Cheryl Scanlon said while there was no current threat in Queensland, it was important officers and venue staff were prepared.
During training at Brisbane’s Lang Park stadium, police were called to assist with crowd control and respond to live hostage situations. (Supplied: Queensland Police Service)
“The deadly shootings at Bondi Beach in 2025 and the stabbing attack at Bondi Junction in 2024 has only reinforced the need for us to conduct regular training,” she said.
“Our counterterrorism training is practical, it’s realistic, and it’s scenario-based.
“If I use the example of Bondi Junction, where you have got an attacker with a knife and tragically lives lost in that event, that is one of the scenarios that we have rehearsed.
“We don’t wait for an incident to happen. We need to test our systems, and we are testing them now.“
Australia’s terror threat level currently sits at “probable”, but this week ASIO director-general Mike Burgess argued the label did not accurately capture the threat facing Australia.
He has suggested the terror threat system could be overhauled altogether, and said discussions were underway about a new system.
“With the temperature turned up, the [terror threat] is more likely than ‘probable’ would suggest,” he said.
Under Operation Banshee, training was conducted after hours at shopping centres in Brisbane, Logan, Toowoomba, Cairns, Rockhampton and Mackay with other officers taking part as role players.
Meanwhile at Lang Park, as part of Exercise Sundown, officers responded to a simulated crowd control challenge and a hostage situation, Deputy Commissioner Scanlon said.
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Stadiums Queensland chief executive Todd Harris said the exercises allowed stadium staff to work with emergency services to test the capabilities of the venues.
“If we have our venues full, we are talking about 40,000 to 50,000 people that we need to control, and we need everyone on deck to respond at the same time,” he said.
Deputy Commissioner Scanlon said officers were deliberately placed in high-pressure environments where each decision made could result in a loss of life.
“This is designed so they can respond in a coordinated and decisive manner to any type of attack that could occur,” she said.
Cheryl Scanlon says in the event of a terror incident the message is to escape, hide and tell. (ABC News: Joshua McIntosh)
Deputy Commissioner Scanlon, who is also chair of the Australia-New Zealand Counter-Terrorism Public Information sub-committee, said the message to the public when an incident is unfolding is to escape, hide and tell.
“Escape if it’s safe to do so,” she said, “If you can’t escape and you need to hide, find something solid to put between yourself and the individual.
“Call the police on Triple Zero (000) and report what you’ve seen when it is safe to do so.”
