The father and son gunmen who carried out the Bondi Beach attack spent nearly all of November in the Philippines, according to the Australian authorities.
The trip was confirmed by both Australia and the Philippine authorities after ABC cited security sources as saying the attackers may have travelled there for “military-style training”.
Prime minister Anthony Albanese has said the attack that killed 15 people at a Hanukkah event by the sea appeared to have been driven by extremist beliefs. “It would appear that this was motivated by Islamic State ideology,” Mr Albanese told ABC Sydney.
A spokesperson for Australia’s immigration bureau said Sajid Akram, 50, and Naveed Akram, 24, left Australia for the Philippines six weeks ago and returned on a flight to Sydney on 28 November. Sajid Akram was shot dead by police during the attack while his son Naveed was critically injured and taken to hospital under police guard.
Sajid Akram travelled on an Indian passport. The pair listed Davao as their destination upon arrival in the Philippines, Australia’s immigration bureau spokesperson Dana Sandoval said. Davao, a sprawling city on the eastern coast of Mindanao – the largest southern island – lies within a region where Islamist militants have historically operated in poorer central and southwestern areas.
Ms Sandoval said: “Sajid Akram, 50, Indian national, and Naveed Akram, 24, Australian national, arrived in the Philippines together last 1 November 2025 from Sydney, Australia.”
The Philippine military said it could not verify whether the Akrams received arms training during their trip.
New South Wales (NSW) police commissioner, Mal Lanyon, also confirmed the Philippines trip, saying investigators were scrutinising the purpose of the visit and the men’s movements while abroad.
Australia’s foreign minister Penny Wong has spoken with her Philippine counterpart Tess Lazaro and briefed him on the ongoing investigation.
Mr Lanyon said a vehicle linked to the younger man contained improvised explosive devices and “two homemade Isis flags”.
Investigators are now probing whether the Akrams had links to a transnational terror network, according to the sources cited by ABC.
Naveed Akram had been investigated for six months in 2019 by Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), the country’s domestic intelligence agency.
Mr Albanese said a six-month ASIO investigation found “no evidence” that either the father or the son had been radicalised.
Sajid and Naveed Akram are accused of carrying out the Bondi Beach attack that left 15 people dead and dozens more injured during a gathering of people to celebrate the beginning of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah in the popular Sydney tourist destination. Those killed on Sunday included a 10-year-old child, a British-born rabbi, a former police officer, and a Holocaust survivor.
Health authorities have said that 24 people are still being treated in hospital, with several in critical condition.
Mr Albanese and NSW premier Chris Minns on Monday vowed to strengthen gun laws in the country. NSW Police said on Tuesday that Naveed Akram has regained consciousness after being in a coma since Sunday’s attack.
Australian Federal Police commissioner, Krissy Barrett, said the Bondi Beach attack appears to have been carried out by the father and son who “aligned themselves with a terrorist organisation, not a religion”.
The Australian PM has also hailed a bystander who tackled one of the gunmen on Sunday and seized his weapon, calling him a “true Australian hero”. The fruit shop owner, Ahmed al-Ahmed, a father of two from Sydney, was seen tackling one of the gunmen before wrestling his weapon away from him during the antisemitic terrorist attack.
Video footage of Mr Ahmed intervening circulated widely on social media following the attack. Mr Ahmed’s family previously said he was in hospital with bullet wounds to his arm and hand, but was in “good spirits”. His father said his actions showed the 43-year-old’s impulse to protect people as he called him a “hero of Australia”.
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