Australia opens inquiry into 'disturbing' antisemitism at universities, Jewish groups skeptical

The Australian government has referred the issue of antisemitism at Australian universities to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights for an in-depth inquiry.

However, the Shadow education minister and the Australian Jewish Association criticized the move as “inadequate.”

The move was announced in a joint statement by the education minister, Jason Clare, and the attorney-general and cabinet-secretary, Mark Dreyfus.

The Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee recommended the inquiry after being “deeply troubled” by the experiences of Jewish students and the way Australian higher education institutions have responded to antisemitism.

“Every Australian deserves to feel safe and supported in our community,” the statement said. “There is no place for hatred or racism.”

The inquiry will take into account the prevalence and incidence of antisemitism at universities and will explore whether the frameworks for preventing antisemitism and the current support given to staff and students is sufficient.

The committee has until March 31, 2025, to submit its findings.

Dreyfus said that “all around Australia, Jewish students and staff tell me they don’t feel welcome on campus, and they don’t think their universities care.”

He called the situation “intolerable” and “disturbing” and one that requires urgent action.

Clare added that nothing is more essential than students feeling safe on campus and praised the existing measures of the Albanese government.

Others call inquiry inadequate 

The shadow education minister, Sarah Henderson, called the decision “shockingly inadequate and a farce.”

“The inquiry is a gross insult to Jewish Australians because it ignores the advice of the government’s antisemitism envoy, Jillian Segal, and representatives of every major Jewish organization who strongly back an independent judicial inquiry into antisemitism at Australian universities,” she wrote.

She also criticized the choice of date by which the findings must be published (March 2025), which she said is likely to come after a federal election and therefore the dissolution of Parliament.

“The reporting date is a grubby attempt by Labor to ensure the committee’s report never sees the light of day,” Sen. Henderson said.

She added that the reason so many Jewish students feel unsafe on campuses in Australia is because the Labor government has failed repeatedly to take action to combat antisemitism.

“Whether it was protest encampments which fueled antisemitic hate and incitement, the menacing of students by the extremist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, or the occupation of buildings, Mr. Clare was missing in action, consistently failing the test of leadership,” Henderson said. “It is no wonder so many Australians have lost faith in the Albanese government.”

Henderson also disdained the fact that Jewish Australians will need to give evidence before anti-Israel senators such as Lidia Thorpe, calling it “insult to injury.”

The inquiry to establish the commission received 669 submissions from students and staff, raising concerns about the prevalence of antisemitism.

However, University of Sydney senior lecturer Nick Riemer responded on Wednesday, “It is clear to everyone except uncritical politicians, corporate university leaders, and media propagandists ($) that there is no crisis of antisemitism,” calling it a “witch hunt.”

David Adler, the president of the Australian Jewish Association, told The Jerusalem Post that Australia, like other Western countries, has seen a dramatic rise in antisemitism, with universities being some of the “worst offenders.”

Echoing the statements of Henderson, Adler said that university management and the federal government have been “grossly inadequate in dealing with the problem.”

He noted that a proposal by Jewish MP Julian Leeser to establish a specific judicial inquiry into university antisemitism was rejected by a government-controlled committee.

“The referral of campus antisemitism to a general parliamentary human rights committee also examining Islamophobia and general racism is a dilution and much weaker alternative,” Adler told the Post.

Adler also said it was noteworthy that Clare represents an electorate with a high Muslim constituency of over 30%, which was seemingly influential in the formation of this inquiry.

“The Australian Jewish Association has little confidence that referring university antisemitism to this particular committee will result in any meaningful change,” Adler said.

MP Julian Leeser told The Post that the decision to "subject victims of antisemitism in Australian universities to yet another partisan political inquiry" was "a slap in the face to the hundreds of witnesses from the Jewish community who came forward to support an independent judicial inquiry."

"When the Government appointed a Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism [Jillian Segal], I said the test would be whether they take action to follow her advice," Leeser added. "The Special Envoy was unequivocal in her support of a judicial inquiry as was every other major Jewish organisation."

"The government has flat out ignored her and ignored the Jewish community more broadly."

Leeser also mentioned the recent occupation of the office of Jewish Melbourne University professor, Steven Prawer, by pro-Palestinian activists. Prawer previously attended a parliamentary inquiry, yet Leeser added that the university’s response to protecting their staff member had been again completely inadequate.

"Given this why would any Jewish Australian risk their personal safety by participating in  another pathetic political process," he concluded.