Despite authorities revealing a 12-year-old boy is on their terror radar, the federal government says its response to youth radicalisation will not include control orders for pre-teens.
As two men faced court on Friday over the fatal shooting of a Sydney police accountant, Attorney-General George Brandis said there was no plan to give authorities the power to restrict the movements of people as young as 12 who are suspected of being involved in terrorism.
The development comes after the government announced proposed legislation that would lower the age from 16 to 14 of those who can be covered by control orders.
"The government's indicated what its policy is," Senator Brandis said on Friday, as he emerged from the ASIO headquarters in Canberra.
The comments follow revelations on Wednesday that a 12-year-old boy is one of more than a dozen people named in a Federal Court order imposed on Sydney terrorism suspect Ahmad Saiyer Naizmand earlier this year, as is Raban Alou, 18, who on Friday faced court over the shooting of police accountant Curtis Cheng in Parramatta.
Naizmand, along with others arrested in raids in response to the Parramatta shooting, was also targeted as part of Australia's biggest terrorism raids in September last year, prompted by an alleged plot to execute a random member of the public.
Mr Cheng, 58, was gunned down on October 2 by 15-year-old Farhad Jabar, who had earlier attended Friday prayer at a mosque in Parramatta.
The father of Alou, charged with terrorism offences that carry a maximum penalty of life in prison, said his son has been brainwashed.
"I teach him a lot of good things, but if your son doesn't listen to you, what are you going to do?" Izat Alou said.
"Somebody brainwashed him.
"My son is born here. Even I don't pray and I'm not a practising Muslim.
"We hate these bloody ISIS (Islamic State)."
It is alleged Alou, who has been in custody since dawn raids last Wednesday, aided, abetted, counselled and procured the commission of a terrorist act.
Speaking outside court, his lawyer Moustafa Kheir said Alou would fight the charge.
"The evidence that the charges rely on are circumstantial evidence," Mr Kheir said.
Talal Alameddine, 22, is accused of giving Alou the gun hours before the shooting.
Alameddine is also charged with breaching a firearms prohibition order and hindering police.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, asked earlier on Friday about speculation that control orders could be applied to children as young as 12, said protecting the safety of the Australian people was the government's most important responsibility.
"And we will be constantly vigilant to ensure we take every approach, every angle, to ensure we achieve that," Mr Turnbull said in Sydney.
Mr Cheng's funeral will be held at Sydney's St Mary's Cathedral on Saturday morning.
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