Segal releases updated priorities to combat hate

Australia’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism Jillian Segal has identified modern, “progressive” antisemitism as the most pervasive form facing the country, in an updated roadmap released on Friday.

ASECA Priorities builds on the Plan to Combat Antisemitism, which the government adopted in full after the Bondi Beach terror attack, and sets out priorities for the work of the special envoy, government and institutions through 2027.

The document identifies a fourth form alongside Islamic extremism, far-left and far-right antisemitism. It describes progressive antisemitism as taking the hostility of the first two, together with traditional antisemitic tropes, and giving it a respectable face through the language of social justice and human rights.

“Islamic extremist, far-left and far-right antisemitism are still very much with us, and they require vigilance and laws that are properly enforced,” Segal said.

“But the form that is leaving Jewish Australians increasingly anxious and excluded is the one that has taken root in influential institutions, where Jewish Australians are being discriminated against, blamed and vilified for the actions of the Government of the State of Israel. It is best countered by understanding, and by leaders who accept responsibility for the environments they oversee.”

The document says this phenomenon has grown out of, and is especially prevalent in, institutions of intellectual and cultural leadership including universities, media, arts organisations and human rights non-government organisations.

It also uses the term “ambient antisemitism” to describe institutional hostility, warning that the term should not be understood to imply nobody is responsible.

“What was once extreme can become familiar; what becomes familiar can become acceptable; and what becomes acceptable can become fashionably progressive,” the document says.

Segal said the past year had shown both how much had been achieved and how much remained to be done.

“Antisemitism does not begin with violence. It starts with words, and it grows when hatred is excused,” she said. “Bondi exposed with devastating clarity that the normalisation of antisemitism in our institutions and public discourse cannot be separated from the threat of extremism and violence.”

She stressed the plan was not about silencing criticism of Israel, and that consistent with the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition, criticism of Israel similar to that levelled against any other country is not antisemitic.

Priorities for the next phase

The document sets out priorities across sectors. On universities, it calls for every institution to adopt and operationalise a definition of antisemitism, following a report card by Emeritus Professor Greg Craven that found no Australian university had properly adopted and operationalised either the IHRA or Universities Australia definition, which he characterised as a sectoral failure.

On schools, it calls for a fully funded national rollout of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) program for teachers and students, following evaluation of the current trial.

On health, it proposes a national Healthcare Antisemitism Taskforce and continued engagement with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra), so that Jewish practitioners are protected from harassment and vexatious complaints.

On media, it calls for an independent ombudsman for the public broadcasters, and for an expert panel to conduct a retrospective analysis of ABC and SBS news and current affairs against their statutory obligations.

On public money, it says taxpayer-funded organisations and grants must not be used to promote, facilitate or accept antisemitism across the arts, sport and university research, backed by enforceable funding conditions.

On the arts, it calls for cultural institutions to adopt codes of conduct and for initiatives to re-engage doxxed or excluded Jewish creatives.

Segal said the plan’s migration chapter was about protecting social cohesion.

“Social cohesion depends on every new arrival embracing the Australian covenant of leaving hatred at the door,” she said. “That is why we are supporting training so that visa decision-makers can recognise antisemitism and other hatreds.”

Since the plan’s release, more than 10,000 public servants have engaged with foundational antisemitism education, the government has amended the Higher Education Threshold Standards, and Ahpra has adopted the Australian definition as a reference tool.

The document notes the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion will deliver its final report on December 18, and that implementation will take into account the government’s response to its recommendations.

“Together we can push antisemitism back to the margins where it must remain,” Segal said.