There had been a number of predecessor organisations in the past, though these had been strongly stigmatised in the McCarthyite atmosphere of the 1950s, when communal leadership in those years took an increasingly hard line on the Israel-Palestine issue.

[1] After the 1967 Six-Day War, the sharp decline in right-wing anti-Semitism, the rise of left-wing anti-Zionism, and the increased affluence of the community all tended to confirm and reinforce a Jewish move to the political right in a similar fashion to what occurred in other countries.

Despite its clear attachment and concern for the future of Israel it was claimed that 'AJDS members [are] not grounded in Jewish life, coming to their analysis of events from outside.

(Sam Lipski, Australian Jewish Times, 16 July 1987) This is despite the fact that much of what AJDS stands for is familiar to the Israeli left.

It has taken positions opposing the Blockade of the Gaza Strip and the Occupation, including settlements, and is outspoken in support of civil rights in Israel and the occupied territories.

However, it has made clear that its opposition is not to the state of Israel, but to the politics of successive Israeli governments, the settler movement, as well as the move to extremism in Palestinian organisations.

AJDS launched a petition, calling on Australians of different viewpoints to oppose any local manifestations of racism or ethnic or religious discrimination linked to the Middle East crisis.

In 1997, AJDS called on the Israeli Government to accept territorial compromise, and to recognise the right of the Palestinians to a State of their own and more recently, has strongly opposed the actions in Gaza, Lebanon and elsewhere.

"[3] In addition to frequently expressing views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the AJDS also promotes cooperation with broader social groups on a range of issues.

The article urged the Australian government to support a resolution in favour of the establishment of the state of Palestine at the UN General Assembly in September 2011.

We believe that we represent the views held by a significant and growing number of Australian Jews who are appalled by the policies of the Israeli government and who feel the peak Jewish bodies (such as ECAJ) do not speak for them.

[10] AJDS has been active in opposing the imposition of IHRA guidelines on Australian universities and has made its case in a number of submissions to different Parliamentary Inquiries.

AJDS actively campaigned for the Voice, a proposed Australian federal advisory body to comprise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in 2023, though the Referendum was defeated.