Albanese pledges to implement all interim recommendations

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has pledged to implement all recommendations from the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion relevant to the Commonwealth, declaring “we’re not sitting back and just reading this document, we’re acting on it”.

Commissioner Virginia Bell’s interim report, delivered on Thursday, found Australia’s counter-terrorism capabilities require strengthening despite no gaps in legal frameworks that would have prevented the December 14 Bondi Beach massacre that killed 15 people.

“Commissioner Bell has found that our existing legal and regulatory frameworks did not hinder our agencies in preventing or responding to the Bondi attack, and that no urgent changes are required to keep Australians safe,” Albanese said.

“But the commissioner does make 14 recommendations which go to enhancing our national counter-terrorism arrangements and capabilities.”

The National Security Committee met on Thursday morning to adopted the relevant recommendations.

Bell’s interim report found that in the lead-up to December 14, the national terrorism threat level was “probable”, there had been a “disturbing escalation” in antisemitic incidents, and ASIO had made antisemitism one of its most pressing priorities.

The report stated: “No material or advice from any agency identified any gap in the existing legal and regulatory frameworks that impeded the ability for law enforcement, border control, immigration and security agencies to prevent, or respond to, an attack of the kind that occurred at Bondi on December 14, 2025.”

However, the review revealed “aspects in which counter-terrorism capability at Commonwealth and state levels could be improved”.

Government response to criticism

Asked what the recommendations said about government failures leading up to the Bondi attack, Albanese said: “The recommendations show very clearly that in terms of the government’s legal regulatory frameworks did not hinder the agencies that we are responsible for in either preventing or responding to the Bondi attack.

“There has been a rise in antisemitism, that is a global phenomenon that has occurred since the October [7, 2023] actions of Hamas. That is something that has happened right around the world. Governments need to respond to it. We are responding to it.”

Asked if the government could have done anything differently, Albanese said: “We have a Royal Commission, and we will allow the Royal Commission to do its work. This interim report goes to security agencies. I have said on multiple cases, governments could always do better. Always do better.”

“Social cohesion is important. Governments don’t control by themselves social cohesion, that’s something that everyone in the community has a role in when it comes to racism in general, when it comes to antisemitism, where there has been a specific rise in antisemitism, that’s why we appointed an envoy, special envoy on antisemitism. That’s why we’d already increased security funding.”

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the government had acted immediately after the attack to legislate on “both the motive and the method of that attack”.

“We also, when we set up the Royal Commission, made clear that any recommendations about national security could not wait till the end of a long royal commission process. We needed that information, and we needed it quickly,” Burke said.

Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said royal commissions were “our nation’s highest form of inquiry” that “help us comprehend what has occurred by investigating, listening and making recommendations”.

“The interim report handed down by the Royal Commission today is part of that process, and as the Prime Minister said, we will adopt and implement all the recommendations relevant to the Commonwealth and work with the states and territories to ensure a nationally consistent approach to implementation,” Rowland said.

Recommendations

The 14 recommendations include several that are classified for national security reasons. The public recommendations are:

• Procedures adopted by NSW Police for Operation Jewish High Holy Days should apply to other high-risk Jewish festivals and events, particularly those with a public-facing element.
• Consideration be given to making the Counter-Terrorism Coordinator’s role full-time, given the significance of the position in providing counter-terrorism leadership.
• If the Australia New Zealand Counter-Terrorism Committee (ANZCTC) is to be used again as a crisis committee, it should be included in the Australian Government Crisis Management Framework so its role is clear.
• The Counter-Terrorism Handbook should be updated promptly and then at least every three years in coordination with updates to the Counter-Terrorism Plan and the ANZCTC triennial review.
• The ANZCTC should provide direct advice in the form of written or oral briefing, at least annually, to National Cabinet.
• The ANZCTC should commission a review of the Joint Counter-Terrorism Teams, with particular focus on the Joint Counter-Terrorism Team-NSW, with a report to be submitted within three months of commencement.
• The government should consider whether National Security Committee ministers, including the Prime Minister, should participate in a counter-terrorism exercise, along with all National Cabinet members, within nine months of each federal election.
• The Commonwealth, states and territories should prioritise efforts to finalise and implement an updated and nationally consistent National Firearms Agreement.
• The Commonwealth, states and territories should prioritise efforts to implement the proposed National Gun Buyback Scheme.

Richardson’s contribution

The interim report acknowledged the contribution of former senior public servant Dennis Richardson, who resigned from the Royal Commission on March 11.

“I take this opportunity to express my thanks to him for the important contribution he made to the Commission’s work which informs much of this Interim Report,” Bell wrote.

Richardson had been commissioned to lead an independent review of federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies, which was rolled into the Royal Commission when it was established.

The team Richardson assembled remained with the Commission.

Threat environment

The report detailed ASIO’s escalating warnings about the threat environment. On August 5, 2024, ASIO raised the National Terrorism Threat Level from “possible” to “probable”, with Director-General Mike Burgess stating: “Politically motivated violence now joins espionage and foreign interference as our principal security concerns.”

By January 30, 2025, Burgess warned: “We have seen a disturbing escalation in the targeting of Jewish interests, and a disturbing escalation in the severity and recklessness of the targeting.”

On August 26, 2025, Burgess announced that ASIO assessed the Iranian government had directed at least two and likely more attacks on Jewish interests in Australia.

Policing at Chanukah by the Sea

The report detailed security arrangements for the Chanukah by the Sea event, revealing that Community Security Group NSW assessed the threat level as “high” on December 8 and requested NSW Police deployment “for the entirety of the event”.

NSW Police allocated three general duties officers and one supervisor to attend, with the Eastern Suburbs Police Area Command Commander attending at “various times”. CSG NSW said it was advised NSW Police “could not provide static resources” but would provide “mobile patrols with taskings to check in and monitor the event”.

An email sent to the two Command Inspectors who would be on duty on December 14 said: “Please take a car crew or two with you and provide a HVP presence. No need to stay the entire duration, but your presence will ensure the community feel safe.”

The report noted differences between information provided by CSG NSW and NSW Police about their communications regarding security arrangements “cannot be resolved on the information presently available to the Commission” and would require further inquiry.

Community response

NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president David Ossip welcomed the report, saying it confirmed “what our community has been saying for some time – that antisemitism in Australia has escalated significantly in both frequency and severity”.

“We note in particular the Commission’s recognition that the threat environment had deteriorated markedly in the lead-up to the attack, and that this risk had been clearly identified at the highest levels of Australia’s intelligence and security agencies,” Ossip said.

He said the report’s finding that no gaps existed in the legal framework “places a necessary and important focus on how systems, coordination, prioritisation and operational decision-making functioned in practice”.

The Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA) said in a statement that while not a final account, the report “put beyond doubt that Bondi occurred in a known and escalating threat environment for Jewish Australians”.

“The Commission has now identified serious questions about how intelligence, policing, event security and national systems worked together. Those questions now need to be tested carefully through the hearings,” the ZFA said.

“The Federal Government’s full acceptance of the interim recommendations is welcome and should now be matched by State and Territory governments, particularly in areas of policing and event security.”

Australian Jewish Association (AJA) CEO Robert Gregory noted that death threats made against AJA leaders were included in the report, which ultimately led to the first charges under AFP Operation Avalite.

But he said the revelation that police attending the Bondi Chanukah event were reportedly told there was no need to remain for the full duration was “particularly troubling”.

“The report’s credibility is undermined by its failure to address the issue of radical Islamist extremism. No serious analysis of the lead-up to the Bondi massacre can ignore this,” he added. “It’s concerning that the report identifies no urgent legislative changes required. There were serious failings by multiple agencies. If the legislation is adequate, then these failings are inexplicable.”

Hearings and submissions

The Royal Commission will hold its first hearing block in Sydney from Monday, May 4 to Friday, May 15. The hearings will be livestreamed and available at asc.royalcommission.gov.au.

More than 3500 submissions have been made to the Royal Commission, with submissions remaining open until at least the end of May.

Rowland said the government had funded a national legal advice service through National Legal Aid and the Jewish Centre for Law and Justice to provide free legal information and help for those wanting to engage with the Royal Commission.

Bell’s final report is due by the end of 2026.