ECAJ calls for responses
The peak body representing Australian Jews has serious concerns about how the survey has been designed.
If you’re studying or working at an Australian university, you’ve probably received an email this week asking you to fill out a survey about racism on campus.
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry has a message for Jewish respondents: please send them a copy of your answers too.
ECAJ is concerned that Jewish experiences might get lost in the data from the Australian Human Rights Commission’s national Racism@Uni survey.
The organisation wants anyone from the Jewish community who completes the survey to also send their responses to ECAJ, their local Community Security Group, or their state Jewish roof body – especially if they haven’t already reported any antisemitic incidents they’ve experienced.
The peak body representing Australian Jews has serious concerns about how the survey has been designed.
“Jewish and Israeli students and staff have been impacted by the rise in antisemitism and anti-Israel racism on campuses since October 7,” ECAJ said.
“They’ve grown tired of filling in surveys, making submissions to inquiries, and finding that their day-to-day experience at their universities has still not improved. They could be forgiven for feeling cynical about yet another ‘study’ into the problem.”
ECAJ also says the survey doesn’t recognise anti-Israeli racism as its own distinct problem.
“We’ve seen significant numbers of complaints from staff and students of Israeli background about conduct which isolates, dehumanises and vilifies them because they are Israelis, regardless of their political, religious or ideological beliefs,” the organisation said.
“Anti-Israel racism ought to be recognised alongside anti-Palestinian racism.”
ECAJ also questioned why the Australian National University is running the survey, pointing out that “the ANU has declined to adopt any definition of antisemitism and has been one of the most viciously hostile campuses for Jews post October 7.”
The survey is part of a government-commissioned study into racism across Australian universities.
A preliminary report released in December found Jewish students and staff had experienced “a rise in antisemitism since October 2023, including extremist propaganda, intimidation, and exclusion”.
The research found racism is “pervasive and deeply entrenched” in Australian universities, with many students feeling “unsafe and unwelcome”.
The final report will be handed to the government in December.