THE country's top spy boss says ASIO must recruit more Muslims into the intelligence agency as the fear of a home grown terror attack remained a "real threat".

In a rare public talk, ASIO director general David Irvine, said the future spies would be recruited from newly arrived migrant communities.



Speaking at the Sydney Institute, Mr Irvine said ASIO needed to do more to reach out to Australian Muslim communities.



"ASIO is not against Islam," he said. "It is against terrorism.



"ASIO needs to recruit more people from within our newly arrived migrant communities.



"I believe we can do better to convince communities that ASIO is not a threat to their cohesion or their integration into Australian life but exists to protect them."



But he said there was a disturbing trend emerging in Australia of the potential for home grown terrorism and there was a need for ever greater vigilance.



"This is not an abstract or an offshore threat," he said.



"It is real and it is amongst us.



Referring to disrupted terrorist plots in Australia, Mr Irvine said: "Three of these attacks would have been the work of home grown groups with little or no direct contact with al-Qa’ida or its overseas affiliates".



"Worrying too, we are continuing to see a number of Australians seeking to travel overseas for participation in – or facilitation of – terrorism related activities.



"My concern is that such people may target innocent people overseas, assist those who would do harm to our nation, or might return to Australia with greater knowledge, training and intent to carry out an act of terrorism back home."



But Mr Irvine said the threat was not confined to Islamic radicals, referring to the recent bomb and shooting attack in Norway.



"The sickening shootings in Norway by a right wing extremist reminds us that the threat to our people can come from different directions, and in different guises – even from those who are blond and blue-eyed," he said.



On the other side of the ledger, Mr Irvine admitted that the debate about civil liberties and intelligence gathering was a valid one to have.



"I believe however that the vast majority of Australians expect their governments to take all necessary actions to protect their community and further the national interest," he said.



He said ASIO has no plans for a "grand expansion" of its spy network but said it would need to lift recruitment to meet the demands or cyber terrorism as well as traditional forms of terror.

Originally published as ASIO boss wants more Muslim spies