Hate preachers should be forced into the shadows, an anti-terrorism commander has told an inquiry, despite suggestions they were better in the open.
Extremist leaders presented a significant risk for influencing individuals toward radicalism, an anonymous police officer told a royal commission on Thursday.
The anti-extremist unit commander said police monitor all forms of hate preaching very closely, often translating every word of sermons.
Islamist extremism expert Rodger Shanahan previously told the commission he feared a further crackdown would make criminal preachers harder to catch.
Mr Shanahan said shutting religious halls and schools could force radical ideologues into private places, which were harder to monitor.
The police commander told the commission he respectfully disagreed.
"If these particular speeches are made online or in somebody's private property … then it's probably a bit more restricted," he said.
"If you've got a centre that is allowing that, it opens the door for a lot more individuals to attend."
Hate preaching formed a key focus for governments' immediate response to the December 14, 2025 terror attacks.
Earlier on Thursday, the commission heard respectful relationship education should begin earlier in schools.
The nation's youth hold more extreme attitudes to gender than other age cohorts, Dr Sara Meger said.
Such attitudes are correlated to generalised violent extremism, according to her research.
"The one thing we measured that was most likely to be able to predict if someone supported any of the forms of violent extremism was their attitudes about violence, the permissibility of violence against women," she said.
Gendered content on social media, online dating and pornography had a negative relationship with gender attitudes.
"(The) grievance narrative that becomes generative of a political ideology begins out of a basis of how one's feelings of being a man or woman in society is based on a sense of unfairness about the gender order and a need to reconstitute something," she said.
Dr Meger reiterated one key recommendation for the commission, primary-aged respect education.
"We've got extremist attitudes showing up in … children as young as 10 years old," she said, citing discussions with Home Affairs.
"My teacher surveys (show) these misogynistic attitudes similarly starting as young as six, seven years old."
She recommended relationships education was mandated from a "foundation-year" level.
"(It) might actually prove effective as national security in countering violent extremism and primary prevention, as well as addressing their gender attitudes," she said.
