MANAGING STADIUMS IN AN AGE OF HEIGHTENED THREAT

Ariana Grande’s sugary pop songs provided a jarring juxtaposition to the brutality of the events that unfolded at Manchester Arena on the night of 22 May 2017. Of the 22 innocent people murdered that night by a suicide bomber in the 21,000-capacity venue, nine were teenagers and one was an eight-year-old girl.

The possibility of such tragedies is not something any of us want to think will happen on a night out at a music concert, but, sadly, they are occurring all too often. The Manchester Arena bombing and similar incidents around the world remind us that the public spaces and places we once took for granted as havens for enjoyment now carry an air of danger.

Australia is not immune to such threats, as has been made evident by the range of incidents and thwarted attacks that have made headlines in recent times. Currently, the Australian Government’s National Terrorism Threat Advisory System places the threat level of a terror attack