[9] In 1984, AIJA organised an international conference on antisemitism that hosted several prominent guests including Australian Chief Rabbi Sir Immanuel Jakobovits, Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League, Special Counsel to the United States Ambassador to the United Nations Allan Gerson, Israeli academics Itamar Rabinovich and R.J. Zwi Werblowsky, and B'nai B'rith lobbyist William Korey.
[14] In January 2000, AIJAC strongly campaigned against controversial military historian and Holocaust denier David Irving's tour of Australia.
Historically, AIJAC has urged the Australian Government to exert pressure and limit relations with Iran due to its opposition to the current regime.
[18] Following the September 11 attacks, AIJAC supported the United States-led coalition's War on Terror and military interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq.
[21][22] Baruch Kimmerling, a sociologist from the Hebrew University, wrote, "As an Israeli, as a Jew and as an academic I am deeply sorry and ashamed that members of the Australian Jewish community are acting against this rightful nomination.
"[23] In 2005, AIJAC praised Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's decision to withdraw from the Gaza Strip, claiming that it proved Israel's commitment to peace.
[25] In 2018, AIJAC lodged a complaint against the Australian Broadcasting Corporation regarding an online article which claimed that Hamas was declared a terrorist organisation because of it activities against Israeli "occupation" of Palestine.
[28][29] In November 2022 Australian Jewish journalist Antony Loewenstein criticised AIJAC and the ECAJ for supporting Israel's military occupation of the Palestinians.
While AIJAC's main focus is on combating perceived anti-Israel bias and misinformation in the media and Australian public, the organisation also has a domestic agenda that includes promoting multiculturalism, human rights and interfaith dialogue; combating extremism, fundamentalism, racism, and antisemitism; promoting Holocaust awareness; pursuing Nazi war criminals; and dealing with the security concerns of Australian Jewish communities and institutions.
Besides its advocacy and lobbying activities, AIJAC has also produced regular commentary and analysis on Middle Eastern, Australian, and Asian developments.
[33] Despite its pro-Israel editorial standpoint, AIR magazine has published interviews with Palestinian figures such as Hanan Ashrawi, Yasser Arafat, and Nabil Shaath.
Danby was involved in the Australian Parliamentary Friends of Israel and objected to Jewish-American intellectual and dissident Noam Chomsky's tour of Australia in 1995.
The two organisations also collaborate in the joint sponsorship of research, conferences, symposia, exchange programs, and fact-finding missions in the Asia-Pacific region.
During the mid-1990s, AIJAC helped located the alleged Latvian war criminals Konrāds Kalējs and Karlis Ozols, who were both living in Australia.
In March 2000, AIJAC also lobbied for the Australian Government to investigate Lithuanian Nazi war crimes suspect Antanas Gudelis following allegations against him aired on the Special Broadcasting Service's Dateline program.
More recently, in 2018, Senators Stirling Griff (Centre Alliance) and Kristina Keneally (Labor) attended, along with other politicians, as well as journalists, including Sharri Markson and James Campbell.
The-then Head of the General Palestinian Delegation to Australia Ali Kazak alleged that AIJAC tried to prevent factual reporting by the Australian media on the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Executive Director Rubenstein criticised local Arab community groups for alleged hypocrisy in opposing the introduction of the Racial Vilification Act but being the first to use it.
[48][full citation needed][better source needed] In November 1995, the Australian Arabic Council (ACC) lodged a complaint against AIJAC's predecessor organisation Australia-Israel Publications after a staff member named David Pryce-Jones remarked that it was an Arab habit to assassinate prime ministers in response to the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by Israeli ultranationalist Yigal Amir.
In response, the ACC lodged official complaints against AIP and the Herald Sun with the Australian Press Council and the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission.
Loewenstein has alleged that AIJAC has used the media complaints process to harass ABC and SBS reporters and senior management over their coverage of the First Gulf War, the Battle of Jenin, and the Israel-Palestine conflict.
According to Loewenstein, AIJAC has also blocked the airing of documentaries and films sympathetic to the Palestinians such as Hany Abu-Assad's Ford Transit, Yoav Shamir's Checkpoint, and Simone Bitton's The Wall.
He has likened AIJAC's media monitoring activities to that of other pro-Israel watchdogs including HonestReporting and the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America.
AIJAC senior policy analyst Ahron Shapiro also criticised Lyons' memoir Balcony Over Jerusalem for promoting what he regarded as a distorted, negative image of Israel.