Universities must act on antisemitism says report
The committee's report, which draws on 47 public submissions and four public hearings, makes 10 recommendations for immediate implementation.
A damning parliamentary inquiry into antisemitism at Australian universities has called for urgent reforms before the 2025 academic year begins.
It cites a “toxic environment” that has eroded trust between Jewish communities and university institutions.
The report of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights, chaired by Macnamara MP Josh Burns, was presented to Parliament on Wednesday and found that some universities’ reluctance to enforce meaningful consequences has exacerbated rising antisemitism across the sector.
“Jewish students have been excluded from university life and some have even avoided going to campus. The status quo is not good enough and it must change before students return to campus in a few weeks’ time,” the Labor MP said.
The committee’s report, which draws on 47 public submissions and four public hearings, makes 10 recommendations for immediate implementation.
These include simplifying complaints procedures, adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Working Definition of Antisemitism, and mandating ongoing training for staff and students.
“It should not have taken a national antisemitism crisis and a parliamentary inquiry for universities to take the concerns of Jewish students and staff seriously – concerns they have been sharing for years,” Burns noted.
The inquiry’s deputy chair, Coalition MP Henry Pike, said the opposition believes stronger action is needed.
He said there are limits to a parliamentary inquiry.
“Despite the best efforts of members to get to the truth and secure answers to our questions, our hearings were a master class in obfuscation by university leaders,” he told Parliament.
Bowman said the Coalition believes a full-time judicial inquiry is the only way address the crisis.
The inquiry, initiated in October last year, also considered evidence from over 600 submissions to a separate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee examining proposed legislation on antisemitism at universities.
Universities will be required to publish de-identified complaints reports to improve transparency, and the National Student Ombudsman will review the implementation of recommendations within twelve months.
“We decided to release the report early because Jewish students and staff should go back to campus for 2025 knowing their safety is taken seriously, and that their university is acting with urgency,” Burns said.
“The recommendations in this report were bipartisan, and I’m proud of that, and they should be monitored and implemented, regardless of what happens at the election,” he said.
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry has welcomed the report, while criticising some universities’ “hopelessly inadequate” responses.
ECAJ co-chief executive Peter Wertheim said the recommendations on streamlining complaints processes and expanding the Tertiary Education Quality and Standard Agency’s enforcement powers are positive steps forward.
He noted the reports implicit repudiation of the Group of Eight universities’ approach to a definition of antisemitism, which he said “has been debunked and rejected by the Jewish community.”
The inquiry’s recommendations included potential amendments to the Fair Work Act to allow universities to take action against academics who engage in racial vilification, overriding current enterprise bargaining agreements.
However, Wertheim criticised the report’s language as overly tentative, noting it merely asked the government to “consider” such changes rather than implementing them directly.
While supporting many of the inquiry’s findings, ECAJ expressed disappointment that there was no recommendation for investigating “persistent reports about foreign government funding and interference in Australian universities.”
Wertheim did, however, endorse the report’s suggestion that a judicial inquiry could be launched if universities fail to address antisemitism issues within the next 12 months.
Zionist Federation of Australia CEO Alon Cassuto said the report was a “a first-step into fixing the systemic scourge of Jew-hatred on our campuses”.
“We welcome how seriously the committee is taking the issue. The proof that antisemitism is being taken seriously at universities will be in action, and not just words,” he said.
“It’s clear that there has been a failure of leadership and a lack of engagement with Jewish students at many universities, and holding senior leadership to account will be crucial if we are serious about fixing the antisemitism crisis.
“While a judicial inquiry should have been established from the outset, we welcome that it remains the next step if universities continue to fail their Jewish students and staff.”
The shadow education minister, Sarah Henderson, said the opposition wants the Albanese government to act on the report urgently.
“I also welcome the committee’s call for reform of laws governing the employment of university staff and Australian Research Council grant recipients. Where there is anti-Semitic conduct, universities and the Australian Research Council must have stronger powers to sack staff and take action against research grant recipients,” she said.
Henderson said it’s intolerable that nine months after she first raised concerns with Education Minister Jason Clare, that “no action has been taken against Macquarie University academic and ARC research fellow, Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah, who has a dark history of advocating hate towards Jewish Australians”.
Independent MP Allegra Spender, said the report confirms antisemitism is an enormous problem on campus and universities have failed to respond adequately.
The MP for Wentworth described speaking with students who have experienced “terrible instances of antisemitism including verbal abuse, food thrown at them and swastikas placed in their bags,” with many now concealing their Jewish identity or avoiding campus altogether.
Spender also voiced support for opposition calls for a judicial inquiry, saying, “we need to confront antisemitism from all angles if we are to fully address it – through education, policing and through the legal system.”
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