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Articles on Sydney siege

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It’s normal to feel distressed after a such an attack, but this generally reduces in the following days and weeks. AAP Image/Dean Lewins

Social supports build resilience and reduce distress after trauma

People in Sydney and the broader community are feeling shocked, anxious, and sad about the actions of a lone, unstable person that led to the tragic loss of lives in the siege early this week. But there’s…
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has launched a joint inquiry with the NSW Government into the Martin Place siege. AAP Image/Lukas Coch

Joint review ordered into siege and hostage-taker’s background

The Abbott and Baird governments have announced an urgent review into the Martin Place Lindt cafe siege, including an investigation of how gunman Man Haron Monis slipped through state and federal security…
It’s impossible to escape news of the Sydney siege, and children are curious. So how much, and what, should you tell them? AAP

What to tell your children about horrific events like Sydney siege

Sometimes, despite our best efforts, shielding our children against the coverage of potentially terrifying events can become very difficult. This is especially the case if everyone is talking about it…
Man Haron Monis, the hostage-taker in the Sydney siege, in 2009. AAP/Sergio Dionisio

Radicalisation and the lone wolf: what we do and don’t know

The events of the Sydney siege this week evolved amid a torrent of speculation and theorising about the motivations and intent of the hostage-taker Man Haron Monis. Some media reporting during the Sydney…
We need to contain the fear and address the anger. AAP Image/Adam Masters

Enlisting psychology in the fight against terrorism

We are in the midst of a wave of soul searching trying to understand the Lindt Café siege in Sydney. In a sense we’ve been collectively holding our breaths for years wondering if Australia would ever fall…
We need to temper the desire to offer well-intentioned care to Sydney siege hostages by abiding to the guiding principle of not causing harm. AAP/Joel Carrett

Why not all Sydney siege hostages will need mental health help

As the country reels from the Sydney siege and its unhappy end, many will be wondering what can be done for the hostages stuck for hours with the gunman in the Lindt café. The answer may be surprisingly…
Man Haron Monis had a history of violence and radical behaviour. AAP/Sergio Dionisio

Political leaders ask how gunman was on the loose

When Tony Abbott was asked what he’d say to people wondering how Sydney’s siege had been allowed to happen given gunman Man Haron Monis was well known to police, the Prime Minister said cabinet’s National…
Man Haron Monis was a madman with a persecution complex, but his frustration with the legal system wasn’t without justification. AAP/website screenshot

Man Haron Monis’s poison letters split the High Court and laid bare a flaw in the system

This week’s hostage tragedy in Sydney’s Lindt Cafe will cast a long shadow. It will force us to rethink our readiness for emergencies and the adequacy of our criminal justice system. There has already…
Man Haron Monis, the perpetrator of the Sydney hostage siege, appeared to be unaware of basic Islamic theology. AAP/Dean Lewins

Sydney siege shows the rise of a new form of extremist

Man Haron Monis, the sole perpetrator of the Sydney hostage siege, is but one example of the recent development of a new form of Islamic extremist radicalisation. In recent years, Islamic extremism has…
In the age of social media, misinformation travels rapidly around the globe. AAP

How rumours about the Sydney siege spread on social media

It has become one of the hallmarks of the news now. Whenever there is a dramatic event, social media instantly comes alive with comment and conjecture as facts vie for attention with fiction. Alongside…
It is hard to police ‘soft targets’ for violent, lone wolf actors without becoming an overpoliced state. AAP/Dean Lewins

Q&A: what we can learn from the Sydney siege, and what next

Sydney is slowly returning to normal after police brought an end to a 16-hour siege in a Martin Place cafe in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The perpetrator, Man Haron Monis, and two hostages, Katrina…
Police storm the Lindt cafe in Sydney’s CBD. EPA

As Sydney siege comes to an end, the questions begin

Police have now confirmed that the siege in Sydney has ended after the cafe was stormed by officers, but questions about how it happened, what the motives were and how Australia should respond are just…
Onlookers must respect boundaries. EPA

Sydney siege shows social media is a risky business

As the hostage crisis in Sydney came to a dramatic, deadly end, people were flooded with information. The siege at the building in the city’s Central Business District is over and the gunman is dead. The…
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has said the motivations of the gunman were unknown, but could be politically motivated. AAP/Lukas Coch

Abbott says the business of government won’t be disrupted by hostage crisis

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has appealed to Australians to “go about their business as usual” as a gunman holds a group of people hostage in the Lindt cafe in Martin Place, Sydney. After a meeting of cabinet’s…

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