Australians are at greater risk of lone-wolf terrorism, as the war in Gaza fuels a surge in anti-Semitism and Islamophobia around the world.
The risk of a terrorist attack on home soil has increased, according the annual Global Terrorism Index.
Australia dropped 13 places to rank 46th, while New Zealand improved to 94th.
The lower the ranking, the greater the threat.
The slip means Australia has become one-of-seven Western countries to rank in the bottom 50 alongside Canada, Germany, France, Britain and the United States.
There were five terrorist attacks and seven injuries in Australia in 2024, up from zero in 2023, while the number of terrorist attacks worldwide increased from 58 to 66.
The five incidents included the stabbing of a bishop and priest in an Assyrian Church, a teenager stopped by police in Newcastle with tactical gear and a camera to livestream the attempted attack, and the Addass Synagogue arson.
They also included a knife attack in Perth where the perpetrator made jihadist references to police beforehand and a separate stabbing in Sydney where law enforcement indicated the teen was "self-radicalised" online.
Australia's greatest threat was from a lone actor with an easily obtained weapon, ASIO director-general Mike Burgess said, adding almost all terrorist matters investigated in 2024 involved minors.
All were lone actors or small groups and almost all were unknown to ASIO or police beforehand, which meant they had moved towards violence more quickly than before, he said.
Those acting by themselves were three times more likely to succeed than people who acted with a second person or small group, according to the index.
Lone-wolf attacks are the deadliest incidents in the West, accounting for more than nine-in-ten fatal attacks in the past five years.
"Social tensions and dissatisfaction within the West are fuelling lone-actor terrorism," Institute for Economics and Peace executive chairman Steve Killelea said.
"The best way to control terrorism is to stop or reduce the number of conflicts. In addition, the Gaza conflict has been, and still is, a catalyst for anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.”
Islamic State remained the deadliest group as it operated in 22 countries and killed 1805 people.
Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia surged globally, with the index reinforcing warnings from Australia's spy chief.
The war in Gaza intensified instability in the Middle East and fuelled hate crimes across the West, the index found.
While the war was stirring intolerance and exacerbating social division in Australia, no terror incidents were directly linked to the conflict, Mr Burgess said.
Artificial intelligence and encrypted communications that were harder for law enforcement to crack were boosting the recruitment and resilience of terror groups, the index found.
But AI also created opportunities for intelligence organisations by making it easier to comb through more data faster and detect radicalisation earlier, it said.
