Australia on Wednesday listed all of Lebanon’s Hezbollah as a "terrorist organization", extending an existing ban on armed units to the entire movement.
Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said that the Iran-backed Shiite group "continues to threaten terrorist attacks and provide support to terrorist organizations" and poses a "real" and "credible" threat to Australia.
Australia had since 2003 banned Hezbollah's so-called External Security Organization.
From now membership of the entire organization or providing funding for it will be proscribed in Australia, which has a large Lebanese community.
Matthew Levitt, a former US counter-terrorism financing official now with the Washington Institute for Near East policy, told AFP the move was "long overdue."
In June, he testified to the Australian parliament that the previous designation was "insufficient" adding that "Hezbollah is structured and operates as a singular organization."
"In recent years a laundry list of Hezbollah terrorist plots and illicit financial schemes have involved Australian citizens and/or activities on Australian soil," he said.
No reason was given for the timing of Canberra's decision, which comes as Lebanon reels from spiraling political and economic crises.
Before 2018 polls, Prime Minister Scott Morrison made the surprise move of recognizing west Jerusalem as Israel's capital, helping secure votes in a battleground Sydney seat with a sizable Jewish community.
Israel's embassy in Canberra welcomed the decision, saying "there is no division between the political and the military wings of the terror organization Hezbollah, and this acknowledgement is essential to combating the enduring threat of terrorism."
