Terror raids, alleged terror plots and reports of local teens fighting for Islamic State overseas - Melbourne's southeast has made headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Now at-risk youths living in the area will be the target of a new program aimed at stopping them from becoming radicalised by terror groups.
MyHack (Mini-Youth Hackathon) will bring together young Muslims and non-Muslims to work on initiatives to prevent their peers turning to violent extremism.
The federal government has put $21,000 towards the pilot program, in what local federal Liberal MP Jason Wood describes as "value for money".
The group will work from July to find four solutions to deal with the growing problem of home-grown radicalisation.
The area has been in the spotlight since Numan Haider was killed outside the Endeavour Hills Police Station after he allegedly attacked police in September last year.
Since then, 200 heavily armed police raided a number of homes last month in Narre Warren, Hampton Park, Hallam and Eumemmerring in a move police say foiled an Anzac Day Islamic State-inspired attack.
Just this week, a Dandenong North man was reportedly killed as he fled Syria after fighting with IS.
"What we have to acknowledge is that this isn't a bandaid solution, it's from the grassroots level," Mr Wood told AAP on Wednesday.
"The key issue is to stop these people being radicalised in the first place."
If the pilot program works it could be rolled out across the state, Mr Wood says.
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