The Lindt Cafe siege: 17 hours of terror

It was the moment international terrorism struck at the heart of Australia's largest city.

At 8.33am on Monday, December 15, 2014, Man Haron Monis walked into the Lindt Café in Sydney's Martin Place with a sawn-off shotgun and a sports bag he claimed was wired with explosives. He took 18 people hostage, setting off an ordeal that unfolded before a horrified nation for 17 tortuous hours. When it was over, two innocent people and the gunman lay dead.

Whatever Monis' true motives were, the madman's bumbling attempts to invoke the global jihad being waged by Islamic extremists brought ISIS' butchery and anti-Western hatred to Australia's doorstep. Five years on, the fallout is still reverberating through policy, security and the public consciousness.

The impact

The country was riveted by real-time coverage of the seige on television and social media, and breathed a collective sigh of relief when hostages scrambled to safety in the siege's final chaotic minutes as police raided the café, guns blazing.

News of the deaths of hostages Tori Johnson and Katrina Dawson prompted an extraordinary outpouring of emotion and national unity, symbolised by the field of flower bouquets and tributes that appeared spontaneously outside the café in the days that followed.

Why it matters

The siege triggered reviews and investigations into a wide range of police procedures and laws including those covering immigration, bail, counterterrorism and domestic violence. Police tactics were heavily scrutinised after it was revealed Katrina Dawson's death and wounds to three other hostages were caused by a police bullet ricochets, along with the failure to activate snipers or enter into negotiations with Monis. A coroner's inquest exposed an ugly power struggle within the NSW Police Force at the time of the siege.

What's changed

NSW Coroner Michael Barnes concluded that the siege was a terrorist act, and that all of the blame for the deaths and injuries caused was Monis' alone. A magistrate who granted Monis bail on accessory murder charges before the siege acted reasonably.

An investigation into Monis' involvement with government and his access to firearms prior to the siege found the various government agencies acted reasonably. Any changes to police procedures or tactics have not been made public.