Social dominance orientation (SDO) measures individuals’ preference for inter-group hierarchies; that is, the idea that some groups in society should rightly dominate other groups. This study examines the role of SDO in explaining anxiety about experiencing a terrorist attack, and support for counter-terrorism policies that potentially infringe individual liberties in seeking to defend community security. It also examines the role of gender in both SDO and anxiety about terrorism: men tend to report higher rates of SDO, but less fear of terrorism. Three hypotheses are examined: that SDO positively predicts support for ‘defensive’ counter-terrorism policies; that it positively predicts fear of terrorism and Islamic extremism; and that the relationship between SDO and support for defensive policies is mediated by fear. The hypotheses are tested on a probability-based sample of 1200 Australian adults, and each hypothesis is supported. Further, gender moderates the direct effects of fear on counter-terrorism responses in surprising ways, suggesting further study is warranted. The findings have implications for the study of SDO, the relationship between SDO and fear, individuals’ willingness to forgo liberties to preserve inter-group hierarchies, and the conditions of support for liberty-infringing counter-terrorism policies.