The obsessive use of the phrase "death cult" to describe Islamic State has failed to resonate with at least half of all Australians taking part in a series of national focus groups.
"Death cult" has emerged as Prime Minister Tony Abbott's favoured term for the terror group that is usually referred to as ISIL, ISIS or Islamic State.
He has used the term 346 times since September in federal parliament and in press releases, interviews, transcripts and videos released by his office, Fairfax Media reported on Monday.
Illustration: Simon Letch.
At least 22 Coalition MPs have also followed his lead and used the term in question time.
However, preliminary findings from a series of national focus groups showed that half of all participants found "death cult" to be non-descriptive, vague or out of date.
The other half of respondents were "neutral" on the term and had no major issue with it, said Hass Dellal, executive director of the Australian Multicultural Foundation.
Mr Dellal said the Foundation was in the midst of conducting focus groups to examine the impact that language and terminology in the terrorism debate is having on community harmony.
"Death cult" is one of many words and phrases already tested on eight focus groups of up to 20 people across all ages, genders and cultures.
Illustration: Simon Letch.
Mr Dellal facilitated a similar study in 2009 for the federal government after then Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, said certain language used to describe terrorism can be counter-productive and cause anxiety and division.
Other governments have previously drawn up counter-terrorism phrasebooks or guidelines.
Nick O'Brien, the former head of International Counter Terrorism in Special Branch at New Scotland Yard and an academic at Charles Sturt University, said it was important to examine the terms being used for Islamic State because the messaging needed to be consistent.
He said Mr Abbott's repetitive use of "death cult" added to the confusing labels that muddle the message about Islamic State.
"He seems to be the only world leader that uses this phrase. The Brits certainly don't use it, the Americans adopted a policy of using ISIL," he said. "A lot of people won't know exactly what organisation he's referring to. There is some amount of confusion."
Illustration: Simon Letch.
One counter-terrorism adviser, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the term reinforced "jihadi cool".
"The impressionable ones, they're not hearing cult in the way he means it. They're hearing death and while he's trying to make it derogatory to them, it's having the opposite effect," the adviser said.
Academics and community leaders previously told Fairfax Media that the term was counter-productive and did some of the terror group's marketing for them.
Illustration: Simon Letch.
Mr Abbott first coined the phrase on September 1 when announcing that Australia would enter Iraq.
"I refuse to call this hideous movement an 'Islamic state' because it is not a state; it is a death cult," he told parliament.
Since then, his 346 mentions of "death cult" have far outnumbered talk of other threats to our way of life such as the drug ice, Ebola and domestic violence, Fairfax Media's analysis found.
Mr Abbott's spokesman said he made no apologies for using the term "because that's what it is: a cult that rejoices in death".
