Dr Julian Droogan is Associate Professor and Director of Research and Innovation at the Department of Security Studies and Criminology, Macquarie University. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of the academic Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism, published by Routledge. His academic research focusses on online extremism, terrorism, and disinformation. 

Through his career, Julian has worked with a range of stakeholders from government, the private sector, and community groups to apply university-based research to devising solutions to contemporary security challenges. 

He has led research projects for the Australian and US Departments of Defence, for the NSW government, and for the United States Institute for Peace, among others. These encompass topics such as online jihadist propaganda, young people’s engagement with online violent extremist content, the spread of far-right and conspiratorial narratives through social media, and the ways in which extremists propagate disinformation to undermine Australia’s democracy and regional interests. 

Julian was instrumental in designing the COMPACT Countering Violent Extremism program, run by Multicultural NSW and aimed at fostering broad societal resilience to violent extremism. The COMPACT program has been funded to over $15 million AUD, has positively engaged with over 20,000 young Australians.