At least two more young Muslim men from south-west Sydney have been stopped from travelling overseas to join foreign fighters by eagle-eyed members of their own communities.
One young man was trying to book a one-way ticket to the Middle East, raising suspicions with the travel agent. The agent contacted the man's father, who was then able to successfully intervene.
Another teenager had been spending a lot of time on the internet and, when his father investigated, he found propaganda about going to fight in Syria.
That father was also able to intervene and have the boy counselled.
Community leader Jamal Rifi said in both cases the young men were able to be steered away from the path of radicalisation by their own communities. "There is enough intelligence in the community that we have already been using and mobilising to protect this country and our boys and girls," Dr Rifi said.
"The government needs to tap into the community resources that are already there to assist them to engage with the young people."
The news of the youths being diverted from becoming foreign fighters comes as the family of Feiz, the 16-year-old Bankstown boy who was brought back to Sydney after running away from home with his friend Abdullah Elmir, last week declined to comment on claims the boy had been prevented from speaking to Abdullah's family.
The boys ran away from home in June, with Abdullah telling his family he was going on a fishing trip. Abdullah was last week dubbed the "Ginger Jihadi" after appearing in a propaganda video for terrorist group Islamic State threatening Australia, its allies and Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
The Sun-Herald has been told that Feiz's father tracked him down in the Middle East, took him to Lebanon, where he had religious counselling, and then brought him back to Sydney. But it is understood he has been told not to speak with anyone, particularly Abdullah's relatives.
Abdullah's family also wanted to mount a rescue mission, which was abandoned at the last minute.
ASIO media said they could not comment on individual cases and an Australian Federal Police spokeswoman said "it is not standard practice for the AFP to place contact restrictions on members of the public unless it is a condition of a court order".
Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said on Saturday, during a visit to Lakemba Mosque as part of the National Mosque Open Day program, the case of Abdullah was a "terribly sad and tragic tale" and he had "fallen victim to a barbaric and brutal portrayal of his own religion".
"That young man may not see out the conflict at all," he said.
Mr Morrison said his thoughts were with Abdullah's family.
"They must be completely devastated, as I know many in this community are, by seeing their young people taken up in this," he said.
On a social media account believed to be Feiz's, the comments he was making before he ran away gave an indication of his state of mind and that he was becoming more hardline and judgmental in his thinking. He has not been using the account since before he left.
Some of his posts include a picture with the slogan "Islam is not a buffet where you can pick and choose what you want".
In another he laments "A society of SHEEP, run by WOLVES, owned by PIGS".
Counter-terrorism researcher at Curtin University Dr Anne (Azza) Aly said the family of both boys should be receiving support.
Dr Aly said deradicalisation, like radicalisation, does not take place overnight. "There are different stages of deradicalisation and it takes time to completely disengage," she said.
Dr Rifi said that there needed to be more done to address the issue of early intervention with cases of suspected radicalisation using case managers, and providing support and education to "empower mums and dads".
"Unfortunately the government and security agencies are only familiar with the punitive process, they have no idea about rehabilitation and deradicalisation," he said.
