White supremacists make up one in five people charged with terrorism offences in the past half-decade, with federal police recording an increase in crimes allegedly motivated by neo-Nazi ideologies.
Since 2020, 90 people have been charged as part of counter terrorism operations, 28 of whom were inspired by ideologically motivated violent extremism, according to data provided by the Australian Federal Police.
All were male and 16 of those 28 were assessed as being inspired by white superiority-related ideologies.
Religiously motivated violent extremism is the second category the AFP use to classify extremism, while people who exhibit both are categorised as mixed-ideology extremists.
"The AFP's national security investigations teams have observed an increase in reports involving politically motivated violence and hate crimes, including crimes allegedly motivated by white supremacist and neo-Nazi ideologies," it said in a tabled response to a parliamentary committee.
The data confirmed the rising threat of white male, right-wing extremism, Greens senator and the party's justice spokesman David Shoebridge said, calling for more focus on online radicalisation that was based on misogynistic hate and fascism.
"The AFP won't use the term 'pro-white male radicalisation' as a category, but when 100 per cent of those charged are male and 57 per cent are white supremacy-linked, the pattern is clear," he told AAP.
"Sixteen Australians have been charged for white supremacist terrorism in four years, including the most recent Perth attack on First Nations people.
"That's a serious and growing threat."
Neo-Nazis in Australia were dealt a major blow under recent hate speech legislation, with the National Socialist Network disbanding just ahead of the federal government being granted the powers to prescribe hate groups.
Being prescribed as a hate group makes it a criminal offence to be a member of the group, recruit for it, fund it or otherwise support it.
Islamic State-inspired attacks - the violent ideology that allegedly two gunmen opening fire at a Jewish Hannukkah celebration at Bondi, killing 15 - were the vast majority of terrorism prosecutions in Australia, Independent National Security Legislation Monitor Jake Blight said.
But extreme right-wing cases had increased over the past five years, Mr Blight told a parliamentary inquiry in February.
Four right wing extremists, or white supremacists, had been prosecuted and sentenced in the past five years, compared to 21 IS-inspired terrorists, he said.
"But if you look at the acquittals, it's the other way round: two Islamic State-inspired actors have been acquitted and three right-wing or white supremacists," he noted.
"We're not seeing as much success in the prosecutions of those cases."
Mr Blight is reviewing whether the definition of terrorism is fit for purpose.
