2014 Sydney hostage crisis
After the siege began, a staged exclusion zone was established with thousands of people evacuated from nearby buildings, including from the floors above the café. The Sydney Opera House was evacuated after a suspicious package was found; however, reports were unconfirmed by police. The US Consulate General in Sydney, located in Martin Place, was also evacuated. Some Sydney schools were put in "white level lockout" due to the hostage situation, which meant that no school group was permitted to leave the school grounds.
Sydney siege inquest
Prof Greg Barton and Dr Clarke Jones said that it would have been extremely difficult to predict that Monis would undertake the siege as he was a loner, had mental health problems, and was desperate to attach himself to something. Clarke suggested that if the Rebels had accepted his membership, then the siege might not have happened. Roger Shanahan from the Lowy institute said that if Monis had followed the direction of ISIS, he would have just killed all of the hostages. The Coroner ruled that the names of the DPP solicitors should remain suppressed. Lawyer 2, who represented the DPP against Monis in October 2014, had had no formal training in the NSW bail law.