Antisemitism in Australia
Antisemitism in Australia is the manifestation of hostility, violence, prejudice or discrimination against the Jewish people or Judaism as a religious, ethnic or racial group.
Advocacy by Jewish organisations, legislative measures, and condemnation by political leaders illustrate efforts to combat these issues, yet antisemitism remains a persistent societal concern.
[10] Suzanne Rutland argues that antisemitism started to become prevalent in the country in the 1880s alongside the rise of Australian nationalism and the campaign to establish the Federation of Australia.
[11] In 1915, the Labor Party politician, Frank Anstey published a pamphlet, The Kingdom of Shylock, which included antisemitic elements, some of which he removed in a later republication.
[12][11] During the wave of Jewish immigration in 1938–39, Frank Clarke, president of the Victorian Legislative Council, offered graphic depictions of refugees as "rat-faced men".
[11] Pressure groups such as the Australian Natives' Association and Returned and Services League of Australia spearheaded resolutions against Jewish immigration.
[18] The Social Crediter, a publication run by C. H. Douglas, produced in England and circulated in Australia, was accused of promoting antisemitic propaganda.
In 1965, Prime Minister Robert Menzies attended the inauguration of a new synagogue in City of Kew, a suburb of Melbourne where he laid the foundation stone.
[44][45] In June 1966, a Jewish centre in East St Kilda associated with the Hashomer Hatzair youth group was targeted with swastikas and Nazi slogans.
[46] Following the Six-Day War, some far-left activists pushed an anti-Israel agenda influenced by anti-Zionist propaganda from the Soviet Union, which impacted some Australian university campuses.
[8] In 1988, a speech by Taj El-Din Hilaly, a prominent Muslim cleric, at the University of Sydney was treated by the Australian Jewish community as a significant attack against Jews.
In a lecture to a group of Muslim students at the university, Hilaly made statements that aligned with major antisemitic tropes concerning Jews.
Jewish students alleged that they faced extensive antisemitic bullying and harassment and that the school administration was notified on multiple occasions but took no action.
[80] In July 2023, the Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, criticised the Greens party for not sufficiently condemning the rise of antisemitism in Australia following the 7 October attacks.
[82] Following the vandalism and attempted firebombing of the Newtown Synagogue in Sydney's Inner West in January 2025, the local mayor accused the Greens of fanning the flames of antisemitism.
On 11 October, a man in Bellevue Hill, New South Wales threatened to kill four Jewish teenagers in a car with an Israeli flag draped on it.
[106] Some members of the group had previously discussed campaigns targeting pro-Palestinian figures, including writer Clementine Ford,[107] who was involved in the doxing;[108][109] Leaders of Australia's Jewish community condemned the incident, including Alex Ryvchin, the co-CEO for the peak body for Australian Jews, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry,[2] the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies[110] and MP Josh Burns, who stated members of the leaked group had faced death threats, including a five-year-old child[105] and one family had been forced into hiding.
[112][113] The Albanese government was strongly critical of the publication of the list, and shortly thereafter announced new laws to combat doxing, the malicious release of personal information.
[135][136] Calls were reissued for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to convene the National Cabinet to address the issue of antisemitism in Australia,[135] which occurred later that day.
[180] On 25 November 2024, pro-Palestinian protesters targeted a Melbourne synagogue where a panel discussion was organised by the Australian Israel and Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC).
[185][186][187] Shortly after the attack, the Victorian Premier, Jacinta Allan visited the synagogue site to condemn the incident and to announce funding to help cover rebuilding costs.
[190] Additionally, in the wake of the synagogue attack, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) launched a specialised operation to investigate antisemitism in Australia.
[208] Shortly thereafter, six out of seven of Australia's living former prime ministers (John Howard, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull, Scott Morrison) signed a statement against the rise of antisemitism in Australia in the wake of the attack and the threat to national cohesion, stating that "the there is no more tenaciously evil race hatred than antisemitism".
The Jewish community in South-East Queensland adopts varied responses to antisemitism, including education initiatives, interfaith dialogue, and security measures.
Findings from a 2017 study include reporting that direct or personal experience of antisemitic insults and harassment over the last 12 months was experienced or witnessed by roughly one in ten respondents, with higher rates for Hasidic and Haredi Jews.
[219] in response, on 9 July 2024, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese appointed Jillian Segal, a former president of the ECAJ, as the special envoy on antisemitism to the Australian Government.
[224] Legal avenues to address antisemitism include a 2024 suit in Australian Federal court against an Islamic preacher in Sydney whose sermons are alleged to have incited hatred against Jews.
Following an increase in attacks on synagogues and Jewish homes in the prior months, Segal called on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and state premiers to convene a national cabinet meeting.
She argued that urgent action is required to implement tougher sentencing guidelines and ensure more consistent prosecution of antisemitic hate crimes.
[237][238] In response, Anthony Albanese rejected both of Segal's requests, and stated that sentencing should be left to judges and that he would not need to convene a national cabinet as he discussed the matter with the premiers of Victoria and New South Wales.
