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Australian NFPs at risk of exploiting and financing terrorism, AUSTRAC warns

Australian not for profits are vulnerable to financing terrorism groups and money-laundering, said a new report released by Australia’s financial intelligence agency.

NFPs operating in Australia and throughout South-East Asia were found to have been vulnerable to terrorist infiltration, with the Australian Transaction Reports & Analytics Centre (AUSTRAC) reporting it had already identified terrorist links to organisations.

The report, which was put together to inform the financial services industry of emerging threats, placed Australia at “medium” for its “overall risk rating”, and at “high” for “consequences” if a charity is found with links to terrorism groups.

“Australia has identified suspected links between NPOs (non-profit organisations) and foreign terrorist groups, mainly ISIL and its affiliates,” said AUSTRAC in its 2017 report. “Radicalised individuals in Australia associated with violent extremism may be loosely linked to a small number of NPOs.”

To read the Third Sector article in fill, click here.

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