Glen Eira adopts first antisemitism strategy

Glen Eira City Council has endorsed Victoria’s first local government antisemitism strategy, with councillors voting unanimously in favour at their ordinary meeting on 1 September.

The Antisemitism Strategy 2026–2028 and its two-year action plan commit the council to annual antisemitism awareness and trauma-informed practice training for councillors, the executive leadership team and frontline staff.

The council will also remove antisemitic graffiti promptly from its assets, clarify reporting and referral pathways, and support Jewish cultural, commemorative and educational events through grants, venues and promotion.

Mayor Simone Zmood said the strategy had “absolutely, 100 per cent unanimous support”, with almost every councillor speaking to it.

“When we hear a particular part of our community in distress, we want to let people know that we absolutely hear you, we see you, and we’re right there, standing side by side with you, to make sure that we make changes happen,” she told The AJN.

Glen Eira is home to Australia’s largest Jewish community, with more than 17 per cent of residents identifying as Jewish and 54.9 per cent of Victoria’s Jewish population living in the municipality.

The strategy cites Community Security Group figures showing 564 antisemitic incidents across Victoria in 2025, the highest total recorded in a single year, with 240, or 43 per cent, recorded in Glen Eira.

Zmood said councils were the level of government closest to residents and could act where other tiers could not. “They might set principles, they might put in place legislation, but they’re not going to be doing the day-to-day work and interaction with people in our community the way that local government does.”

The plan also adopts the Victorian Social Inclusion Values Statement within the council’s Community Grants Program.

“When we fund community organisations … we expect that if we’re supporting other organisations and they’re getting public funds through council grants, that they will live up to those same standards,” Zmood said.

Asked about councils that have taken a different approach, including those flying the Palestinian flag, Zmood said more councils were putting protocols around flag raising and notices of motion. “Councils are not in foreign relations. We can’t influence what happens overseas.”

Jewish Community Council of Victoria Chief Executive Naomi Levin welcomed the initiative.

“Glen Eira is the heart of Victoria’s Jewish community, but it has also recorded the highest number of reported antisemitic incidents in the state,” she said.

“It is really welcome that the City of Glen Eira has become the first Victorian council to adopt an Antisemitism Strategy. It is the responsibility of the whole community to ensure everyone, regardless of their faith or cultural background, can live safely and feel they belong” Levin said

The strategy follows Waverley Council’s Australia-first model in eastern Sydney, which Cr Margaret Esakoff brought back from last year’s national mayors summit on the Gold Coast.

Zmood will present the Glen Eira strategy at the second national summit on antisemitism and social cohesion, hosted by Waverley Council in Sydney in November.

“Rather than aiming for perfection, let’s just get started,” she said.