Restoring the Melbourne we know and love
It is in our interest to recommit ourselves to this work for the good of our Jewish community.
Melbourne is my home and has been home to my family since the late 1950s.
During that time, my family members have run businesses, made contributions to medicine and tertiary education, and given back through volunteering. We are proud contributors, proud Melburnians and proud Jews – all at the same time.
But readers don’t need me to tell them that Melbourne has changed. While I don’t want this to become a nostalgic tribute to a non-existent golden age, I believe we need to work hard to ensure that people like my family – and yours – can continue to live here as proud contributors, proud Melburnians and proud Jews.
There are three ways that the Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV) has been working towards this goal.
The first has been immediate and urgent: advocating for changes to our laws to protect Jewish – and all – Victorians. Racists, bigots and antisemites will continue their despicable conduct if they think they can get away with it.
On September 20, new anti-vilification laws came into effect (2483 days after a parliamentary inquiry was first established to consider the effectiveness of the existing laws).
In his speech to parliament to introduce these important reforms, Police Minister Anthony Carbines quoted from the JCCV-CSG Victorian Antisemitism Report, noting the significant rise in antisemitism. The minister emphasised that the existing laws were found to be “ineffective and inaccessible”. He was right: in the 24-year history of the old laws, no Victorian court had found a person guilty of antisemitic conduct.
The JCCV consulted with Jewish community organisations and Jewish individuals over a period of five years, feeding this lived experience back to government to inform these new laws.
Now we will work with Victoria Police to ensure that reports of antisemitic conduct are thoroughly investigated against these new offences.
What we also need is the community’s help. In an emergency, report all antisemitic conduct to 000. Whether an emergency or not, every incident of antisemitism, should also be reported to CSG via the JEAP app or the phone number 1300 000 274.
The second way the JCCV has been restoring our city is with outreach through our Jewish Immersion Program. Already this year, the JCCV has worked with more than 600 Victorians – teachers, civil servants, local councillors – to help them understand our community, our faith and our recent challenges with antisemitism. More than 600 people have now met Jews, heard our stories and had an opportunity to have myths and assumptions debunked. Every one of these people now has an opportunity to become an ally of Jewish Victorians.
The third way the JCCV is working to restore the Melbourne we know, and love, is to build and strengthen multiculturalism. Multiculturalism is not a choice in Victoria, it is not up for debate, it is a reality.
We should be proud that over recent decades, Jewish Victorians have contributed so much to strengthening multiculturalism. To name just two: Walter Lippman, who established the Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria, and Les Erdi, the driving force behind the revitalisation of the Sandridge Bridge that pays public homage to all migrants to Victoria.
But our multicultural infrastructure has struggled to address recent challenges, including our own struggle against rising antisemitism.
That is why the JCCV strongly advocated for a review into the Victorian Multicultural Commission, which had become diminished over recent years. A review into the government’s multicultural bodies and initiatives was announced and the JCCV actively participated, contributing to the final report, Rebuilding Trust for a Multicultural Victoria. Another of our community’s multicultural stalwarts, Miriam Suss, a former director of Multicultural Arts Victoria and the Victorian Interpreting Service, was a key member of the esteemed team conducting that review.
The report’s recommendations to combat racism and improve social cohesion are of particular importance to the JCCV. The government needs to deliver on its own anti-racism strategy, to vastly improve the collection of racist and hate-crime data, and to better fund intercultural initiatives. As a matter of urgency, we urge the government to implement a social cohesion pledge for all recipients of public funds. Organisations that divide must never receive taxpayer funds.
Victoria’s Jews have always been builders and contributors. We all benefit from cohesion and harmony. It is in our interest to recommit ourselves to this work for the good of our Jewish community.
Naomi Levin is the CEO of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria.