No Australian university properly defines antisemitism

An independent assessment of Australian universities has found a sector-wide failure to adopt an effective definition of antisemitism, the foundation on which all other anti-hate measures depend.

Emeritus Professor Greg Craven, appointed as Independent Assessor by Australia’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism Jillian Segal, concluded no Australian university met the definitional requirements of the University Report Card process.

“No Australian university assessed met the definitional requirements of the Report Card. Without a clear, adopted, and enforceable definition of antisemitism, efforts to combat hatred on campus are fundamentally compromised,” Professor Craven said on Wednesday.

The finding meant the Report Card process, which was intended to assess universities across four priority areas – definition of antisemitism, policy settings, complaints processes, and antisemitism training – was confined to examining the definition issue alone.

“Without such a basal definition as a criterion for judgement, it is impossible to assess such operational matters as dispute and complaint handling and programs to cultivate awareness of antisemitism,” Professor Craven wrote in his 62-page sectoral assessment.