Terrorism threat perceptions and response in Australia and psychosocial impacts within a direct exposure group

The unprecedented nature of the September 11 terrorist attack in 2001 heralded a decade that would see numerous high-profile assaults on western targets and interests. While Australia did not experience acts of domestic terrorism during this period, many of its citizens were killed or injured in a spate of regional attacks; large-scale bombings aimed at western tourists in Bali (2002 and 2005), bombings in Jakarta targeting the Australian Embassy (2004) and Marriot Hotel (2009), and mass shootings in Mumbai (2008) and the Westgate shopping complex in Kenya (2013). These well-publicised incidents have heightened concerns about such attacks within Australia, and raised community expectations for effective planning to protect public safety and health should this occur. Research from countries with recent major incidents highlights that people frequently overestimate their risk of personal harm related to terrorism threats. Such perceptions are associated with higher levels of distress and potentially maladaptive responses, such as location avoidance, altered transport use and increased substance use. Importantly, specific demographic groups may be more susceptible to these outcomes and their impacts on quality of life. A central challenge for emergency planners is to deploy educational programs and risk communication, pre and post incident, which can address these threat perceptions and promote more adaptive responses. Research that identifies sub-populations at greater risk of adverse affective and behavioural outcomes, as well as those factors that increase preparedness, can critically inform the development of such interventions as part of community resilience strategies for terrorism. Less is known about terrorism threat perceptions and responses in ‘pre-incident’ countries such as Australia. Canadians reported low levels of concern and preparedness in the period after the September 11 attack, despite their common border with the United States. The appraisal of local and wider geopolitical factors affecting Canada was found to strongly influence risk assessments. Such findings suggest that recent, context-specific data is needed to inform national planning and interventions. Australia’s ‘mixed’ exposure indicates that data about two primary groups is needed to inform its planning: threat perceptions and likely responses of the general public in a context of potential threat; and the support needs of individuals directly affected by an attack. This thesis provides such data, presenting six recently published studies which examined these differentially exposed populations