About

I am a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Victoria University, focusing on terrorism and security studies.

I have a PhD in political science from Monash University and work in Victoria University’s Institute for Sustainable Industries & Liveable Cities (ISILC). My academic career has involved both public-facing research and applied research with government partners. Since 2010, I have been employed on research projects at Monash University and Victoria University partnered with government entities including Victoria Police, the Department of Justice and Community Safety Victoria, the Department of Premier and Cabinet Victoria, the Department of Home Affairs, the Defence Science and Technology Group, and the Australian Federal Police.

My PhD contributed to the fields of terrorism studies and civil war studies by providing a new theoretical approach for understanding roles and agency in transnational support for armed movements, empirically informed by Islamic State’s mobilisation of support from within Australia. I am on the editorial board of the Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism, contribute to the Addressing Violent Extremism and Radicalisation to Terrorism (AVERT) Research Network at Deakin University, and consulted for Valens Global. I also worked for eight years as an editor for the public policy website Analysis and Policy Observatory (APO) at Swinburne University and co-hosted a podcast (with Kate Grealy at the Australian National University) called Sub Rosa.

This is my personal blog for sharing thoughts on security, terrorism and human rights, focusing on the Australian context.

Research interests:

  • terrorism and counter-terrorism
  • the politics and practice of national security
  • irregular warfare and transnational conflict
  • international relations and non-traditional security threats
  • public safety and human rights

I can be found online at:

Or contact me by email:

  • contact@andrewzammit.org

Selected projects with external partners:

  • How events abroad shape threats at home: grounded approaches for forecasting violent extremism. Victoria University’s Institute for Sustainable Industries & Liveable Cities (ISILC) partnered with the Office of National Intelligence, 2025-2027.
  • The use of media baiting strategies by hate groups and extremists. Victoria University’s Institute for Sustainable Industries & Liveable Cities (ISILC) partnered with the New South Wales Premier’s Department, 2025-2026.
  • National Security Prioritisation Assessment Tool (NS-PAT) validity and reliability assessment. Victoria University’s Institute for Sustainable Industries & Liveable Cities (ISILC) partnered with Victoria Police, 2024-2025.
  • Applied Security Science Partnership (ASSP) research database. Victoria University’s Institute for Sustainable Industries & Liveable Cities (ISILC) partnered with the Department of Home Affairs, 2024-2025.
  • Strengthening processes to monitor client progress within CVE interventions. Victoria University’s Institute for Sustainable Industries & Liveable Cities (ISILC) partnered with Victoria Police, 2024-2025.
  • REAP Training Refresh. Victoria University’s Institute for Sustainable Industries & Liveable Cities (ISILC) partnered with the Department of Justice and Community Safety Victoria. 2022-2024.
  • Community Integration Support Program (CISP): Facilitating disengagement from violent extremism. Victoria University’s Institute for Sustainable Industries & Liveable Cities (ISILC) partnered with Victoria Police. 2021-2023.
  • Known Entity Management Model Validation Stage 1. Victoria University’s Institute for Sustainable Industries & Liveable Cities (ISILC) partnered with Victoria Police. 2021.
  • Destroying the world to save it: Why security studies needs to engage with the planetary health agenda. Victoria University’s Institute for Sustainable Industries & Liveable Cities (ISILC), funded by an internal grant from Victoria University and with in-kind support from the Defence Science and Technology Group. 2020-2021.
  • Revisiting Risk: An Assessment of How Terrorism Subjects Make the Transition to Violence. Victoria University’s Institute for Sustainable Industries & Liveable Cities (ISILC) partnered with Victoria Police. 2020.
  • From Passive Observer to Active Participant: Identifying Transitions to Violent Extremism Activity. Victoria University’s Institute for Sustainable Industries & Liveable Cities (ISILC) partnered with Victoria Police and funded by the Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet’s Research Institute on Social Cohesion (RIOSC). 2018-2019.
  • The roles of women in supporting and opposing violent extremism: understanding gender and terrorism in contemporary Australia. Victoria University’s Centre for Cultural Diversity and Wellbeing (CCDW) funded by the Australian Government. 2016-2017. The final report was published by Deakin University.
  • Stocktake Research Project. Victoria University’s Centre for Cultural Diversity and Wellbeing (CCDW) partnered with the Australian Multicultural Foundation and funded by the Social Cohesion and Community Resilience Ministerial Taskforce, Department of Premier and Cabinet Victoria. 2015-2016. See the final report here.
  • Radicalisation, Counter-Radicalisation and De-Radicalisation: Developing a New Understanding of Terrorism in the Australian Context, Australian Research Council Linkage Project LP0990577. Monash University’s Global Terrorism Research Centre (GTReC) partnered with Victoria Police, Australian Federal Police, the Department of Premier and Cabinet Victoria and the Department of Justice Victoria. 2010-2013.

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