Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has announced that the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights will investigate the rise of anti-Jewish racism at Australian universities.
A Senate committee recommended the investigation after receiving hundreds of submissions from Jewish students and staff describing a rising wave of anti-Semitism on campus following the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on October 7 last year and the resulting conflict in the Middle East. .
The inquiry will consider the prevalence, nature and experiences of antisemitism in universities, including the frameworks and policies to prevent and respond to it and the support provided to students and staff, the government said.
Dreyfus, who is Jewish, said many students and staff had told him they no longer felt welcome on college campuses and that institutions did not care about them.
“This is an intolerable situation and urgent action is needed to address tensions on university campuses and protect the safety of students and staff,” he said.
“The Albanian government is committed to ensuring that we effectively address this worrying situation.”
The committee has been asked to report to parliament by March 31, 2025.
But Liberal senator and shadow education minister Sarah Henderson said the move did not go far enough and wanted an inquiry with Royal Commission-like powers to investigate the issue.
Pro-Palestinian camps will multiply at Australian universities in 2024
“The Albanian government’s decision to refer the anti-Semitism crisis in Australian universities to a parliamentary committee is shockingly inadequate,” he told NewsWire.
‘This is not only a grave insult to Australian Jews, it blatantly ignores recommendations from the government’s own anti-Semitism envoy, Jillian Segal, that there should be a judicial inquiry.
‘Since 7 October 2023, the Labor Party has repeatedly failed to take the necessary steps to combat university antisemitism.
“This is why so many Jewish students and staff no longer feel safe at university.”
Tensions rose at several universities after pro-Palestinian camps emerged on campus.
In May this year, Victoria Police established a new mobile policing unit at Melbourne’s Monash University after hardline pro-Palestine protesters appeared to prevent students from walking freely around campus this week.
Video captured by a Monash student revealed heated and expletive-laden exchanges with protesters.
In one exchange, students ask protesters at the camp: ‘Is it okay if I pass?’
One protester, with an American accent, responds: “No, you can’t get through.”
Attorney General Mark Dreyfus on Tuesday announced a new investigation into anti-Semitism on campuses.
When the student asks why he’s not allowed to walk around his own university, the protester says, “Because you’re a Zionist and you’re instigating things with us and you have to go to hell.”
Appearing before the Senate, Sydney University vice-chancellor Mark Scott admitted he had “failed” Jewish students.
“I have read the complaints that have been made to the university, and all those that were shared in the presentations of this investigation and to the special envoy, and the testimonies are heartbreaking and unacceptable and I am sorry,” he said.
‘No one should feel at risk, unsafe or unwelcome in any place of learning.
“And no one should feel the need to hide their identity or stay away from classrooms or campuses.”