Jewish schools spend $58 million on security

Australia’s Jewish day schools have spent more than $58 million on security over four years, money that would otherwise go to education, the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion has heard, in a day of evidence laying bare the cost of keeping Jewish students safe.

NSW Supreme Court judge Justice Stephen Rothman, national co-chair of the Australian Council of Jewish Schools, gave evidence for the body’s 18 member schools, which educate about 8864 students, or 51 per cent of Jewish school-age children in Australia.

He said security was not discretionary but flowed from a non-delegable duty of care, and that every school’s parent security levy fell well short of actual costs, forcing schools to draw on donations and divert operating funds.

The government’s schooling resource standard includes no loading for security. Rothman cited Moriah College, which had needed a new building since 1998 but could only now proceed, at an additional $14 million because of security requirements, and rejected the perception that the community’s wealth should offset such costs.

The commission heard the same story from individual school leaders. Bialik College board chair Tyson Wodak said his hope was not for more security funding but for less need for security, telling the commission that no parent wanted armed guards around their children every day.