Cheema v State of New South Wales

The appeal in *Cheema v State of New South Wales* was heard by Bathurst CJ, Leeming and White JJA. The appellant sought to challenge an extended supervision order made under the *Terrorism (High Risk Offenders) Act 2017* (NSW). The central dispute concerned whether the appellant qualified as a "convicted NSW terrorism activity offender" for the purposes of the Act, and whether the primary judge had applied the correct, heightened standard of satisfaction required by the legislation.

The court was required to determine several key legal issues. These included whether the appellant had made a statement advocating support for any terrorist act or violent extremism, particularly in light of a deeming provision that extended such statements to include the use or display of images or symbols associated with organisations supporting terrorism or violent extremism. A further issue was whether this deeming provision excluded alpha-numeric images or symbols, and whether the appellant's Facebook post concerning a new nasheed from Islamic State's Ajnad Media engaged this provision. Finally, the court considered whether the deeming provision should be read down due to a constitutionally implied limitation on legislative power to restrict political communication.

The court reasoned that the appellant's Facebook post, which included an image and text, fell within the scope of the deeming provision. The posting of an image associated with a terrorist organisation, even if it contained alpha-numeric characters, was considered to be a statement advocating support for violent extremism. The court found no basis to read down the provision on constitutional grounds, concluding that the restriction on political communication was justified. The appeal was accordingly dismissed.