Australia’s top domestic intelligence official has delivered a rare and stark warning, stating that at least three foreign governments are ‘‘willing and capable’’ of assassinating perceived dissidents on Australian soil.

Speaking at the Lowy Lecture in Sydney, Mike Burgess, Director-General of ASIO, said the threat was ‘‘real’’ and urged the nation to recognise the seriousness of politically motivated violence enabled by foreign state actors.

Burgess did not name the countries explicitly but referenced Iran’s use of criminal intermediaries in arson attacks on Jewish community centres in Sydney and Melbourne, as well as the covert operations of Russia and strategic power competition in the Indo-Pacific region.

He said the intelligence service had detected a “realistic possibility” that a foreign government would attempt lethal targeting in Australia, and that those regimes may ‘‘hide their involvement by hiring criminal cut-outs’’.

The comments build on earlier public disclosures by ASIO of multiple plots by foreign states to physically harm people living in Australia.

In one case, Burgess described how a foreign intelligence service arranged for an Australian citizen to travel by air and then by boat to a third country, where they expected to hand over intelligence requirements.

ASIO agents intervened, confronted the operatives, and conveyed the message that Australians were ‘‘off limits’’.

He said: ‘‘We told them Australians were off limits; we warned them we would disrupt their operations whenever and wherever we chose.’’

Beyond assassination risks, Burgess emphasised that Australia faces a convergence of threats to its social cohesion and national security.

He highlighted that foreign-backed disinformation campaigns, extremist groups such as the neo-Nazi National Socialist Network and Islamist political organisation Hizb ut Tahrir, and algorithm-driven radicalisation are straining the social fabric.

‘‘Grievance is growing.

Intolerance is rising.

Inflammatory rhetoric and behaviour is being normalised,’’ he said, warning of ‘‘real-world “aggro-rhythms” where grievance, intolerance, polarisation and rhetoric feed on themselves.’’

The speech came against a backdrop of heightened espionage, foreign interference and political violence.

ASIO’s 2025 Annual Threat Assessment marked a shift: espionage, foreign interference and politically motivated violence are already at ‘‘extreme levels’’, the agency states, and they expect further pressures ahead.

Burgess said the acceleration of technology — including artificial intelligence — is amplifying these risks.

In calling on all parts of society to help defend Australia’s institutions and cohesion, Burgess underlined that the state cannot meet the threats alone.

‘‘Australia has entered a period of strategic surprise and security fragility,’’ he stated.

He warned that the country should expect ‘‘more security surprises in the second half of this decade than in the first’’.

This latest alert positions Australia’s security challenges as not just external but deeply embedded in the domestic social terrain.

The intelligence chief’s message is clear: the security of the nation now extends into daily life and the public square.