Why Australia needs a Royal Commission

A Royal Commission is needed to address nationwide issues such as antisemitism on campuses, the adequacy of national counter-terrorism networks, gaps and weaknesses across jurisdictions, and to make recommendations capable of consistent implementation.

The commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department has a substantial Royal Commissions branch very experienced in the complex task of setting up a large Royal Commission rapidly: premises, staffing, protocols, training of personnel and the like.

A Royal Commission would provide a forum for “truth-telling” by Jewish people who have experienced the scourge of antisemitism in its multitude of forms. Testimonies from the Disability Royal Commission informed the wider community of the nature and extent of the abuse routinely directed at people with disability, and helped shape recommendations for change.

A Commonwealth Royal Commission has formidable powers of compulsion. It is one thing for the federal government and institutions such as universities and funding bodies to promise co-operation; it is quite another for them to be required by a national inquiry to divulge information they would much prefer to keep secret.

While it might be open to a NSW Royal Commission to suggest changes to commonwealth laws combating hate speech and antisemitism, any such proposals would lack the authority and moral force of recommendations made by a Commonwealth Royal Commission.