Parliament passes legislation enabling IRGC terror listing

Legislation has passed Federal Parliament enabling the Federal Government to list the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation under Australia’s Criminal Code.

The Criminal Code Amendment (State Sponsors of Terrorism) Act 2025 passed both houses on November 6, creating a new framework to allow the government to respond to threats posed by state-sponsored terrorism.

The bill will allow foreign state entities to be listed as state sponsors of terrorism where they have engaged in, or otherwise supported or advocated for, the doing of terrorist acts targeted at Australia.

Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said, “The first priority of our Government is the safety and protection of all Australians, which is why we have acted decisively in passing this vital legislation through the Parliament.

“This legislation is a warning that foreign states and their supporters who seek to fuel division, create fear, erode social cohesion and perpetrate violence in the Australian community will be held to account. These changes will make it more difficult, more risky, and more costly for malicious foreign actors to seek to cause Australia and our community harm.”

The legislation establishes a suite of criminal offences directly targeting state sponsors of terrorism, their proxies, and those who would seek to support these entities and their activities.

Jewish representative groups have long called for the IRGC to be proscribed.

Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council executive director Colin Rubenstein said, “For several years, AIJAC has been calling for the listing of the IRGC as a terrorist organisation under Australia’s Criminal Code, and to amend the Criminal Code to allow the Government to do so if required.

“This week, such amendments passed both houses. While it is regrettable that it took two antisemitic attacks in 2024, only publicly attributed to the IRGC on August 26, to reach this point, AIJAC commends the Government for moving so quickly to ensure the legislation passed both houses of Parliament in 29 days,” said Rubenstein.

“AIJAC now urges the Government to move just as quickly to implement the legislation and list the IRGC as the 32nd terrorist organisation designated under the Criminal Code, joining our allies the United States and Canada. Hopefully, the Government’s move will inspire European Union member states and the UK to amend their respective laws, if necessary, and designate the IRGC a terrorist organisation, something called for by many of their own politicians and officials.”

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) also hailed the legislation “as a vital step towards fulfilment of the Federal government’s pledge to list the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation”

“Although it was the Jewish community that was targeted in such a callous and calculated way, by a ruthless and violent foreign force, simply because of who we are, these crimes presented a danger to all Australians”, said ECAJ President Daniel Aghion. “The ECAJ has been calling for the IRGC to be listed as terrorist organisation since 2022.

“The IRGC’s purpose is not only to entrench the Ayatollahs’ theocratic rule in Iran but also to export Islamic revolution regionally and globally.”

Aghion continued, “The IRGC acts through terrorist proxies such as Hamas and Hezbollah and also, more insidiously, through a vast economic and cultural network which reaches many parts of the world, such as universities, the media and social media.

“It is a supremely malevolent organisation that seeks to impose an alien and repugnant way of life on Australia and other western democracies. We commend the government and the parliament for demonstrating resolute opposition to the IRGC, and the necessary determination to put a stop to its activities on Australian soil.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced in late August that ASIO had determined Iran was behind two Australian firebombings, one at Lewis’ Continental Kitchen on October 20 and another at the Adass Israel Synagogue on December 6. Following the ASIO findings, the Australian government expelled Iran’s ambassador and announced it would list the IRGC as a terror organisation.

In October, Mossad identified Sardar Ammar, a senior commander in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force, as the mastermind behind the firebombing attacks. According to Mossad, Ammar heads a transnational terror network commanding approximately 11,000 operatives responsible for carrying out covert operations targeting Jewish and Israeli sites around the world.

Meanwhile, Independent member for Wentworth Allegra Spender has questioned Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke about the legal status of another extremist Islamist group – Hizb-ut-Tahrir – after ASIO director-general Mike Burgess on Tuesday night compared its tactics to those of neo-Nazis and warned that it uses anti-Israel rhetoric to fuel and normalise “wider antisemitic narratives”.

“It deliberately stops short of promoting onshore acts of politically motivated violence,” Burgess told the the Lowy Institute. “Hizb ut-Tahrir wants to test and stretch the boundaries of legality without breaking them.”

Spender told The AJN on Thursday, “I know my community is really concerned about extremists groups – particularly Hizb ut-Tahrir and the neo-Nazi National Socialist Network that were mentioned by the ASIO chief.

“I have been concerned whether they should be listed as terrorist organisations and have asked the government specifically whether ASIO recommended them to be listed as terrorist organisations, as I understand government should act on the advice of security services on this. When I asked the Home Affairs Minister this he said to me, ‘If at any time our agencies advise the legal thresholds have been met, the government would act.’

“To address the hatred that groups like this seek to foment, and address the hate preachers, I will continue to push the Government and Opposition to back stronger hate speech legislation – like the laws we have had in WA for the last 20 years.”