ADC to move closer to Victorian roof body

THE Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC) has confirmed its intention to physically and metaphorically move closer to the Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV), announcing a plan to relocate to the Beth Weizmann Community Centre.

JCCV president and ADC deputy chairman John Searle confirmed the move, saying that “the best way to work closely is to be close”.

“This is something we’ve been talking about for a considerable amount of time,” Searle told The AJN. “The relationship we have with them is sensational, [but] it’s sometimes difficult because we are not in the same building.”

A memorandum of understanding between the two organisations means that they are already currently working closely together.

ADC executive director Deborah Stone said it is “more logical” for the two groups to also be located “close together if physically possible”. Currently, the anti-defamation organisation is based in Caulfield South.

Changes currently underway at Beth Weizmann to introduce the Jewish Library Australia — a national library that would bring together the various collections of Jewish books that already exist within the community — means that space at the community centre should become available in approximately six months.

Searle said that while the ADC initially positioned itself to counter anti-Semitism and racism across Australia and New Zealand, over time its evolution has seen it operate mainly in Victoria. The move closer to the JCCV would complete this transition.

“I think it is more Victorian than anything else,” Searle said, adding that in NSW, anti-defamation work is “very competently” looked after by the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies.

DALIA SABLE AND NAOMI LEVIN