Jews experience the highest rate of hate incidents per capita of any minority group in Australia. In the two years since October 2023, incidents have averaged over 1,800 annually, over five times the historical average.

• Although overall incident numbers have declined slightly since 2024, the severity of attacks has intensified. Vandalism increased by 14%, and 18 incidents involving arson and graffiti were classified as “major” between October 2024 and February 2025—the highest concentration on record.

• More than 20 serious physical assaults were recorded in 2024–25, including attacks involving weapons and targeted violence in public spaces. These included violent attacks such as a flaming projectile thrown at a rabbi pushing a baby in a pram, a 66-year-old Jewish man threatened at knifepoint on a Sydney train, and a Jewish man pushed off his bicycle near a synagogue.

• In December 2024, the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne was firebombed and burned to the ground in an attack immediately declared by police to be terrorism. In October 2024, Lewis’s Continental Kitchen, a kosher business in Bondi, was destroyed by arsonists. In August 2025, the Federal Government and ASIO announced that both attacks were orchestrated by the Iranian regime, acting through the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Australian Jews were deliberately targeted to further the political purposes of a hostile foreign power that sees its war against Israel as a war against the entire Jewish people. ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess noted that foreign actors used serious organised crime networks to assist them in violently targeting the Jewish community.

• The escalation of violence reached a devastating peak on 14 December 2025, when a terrorist attack during a Chanukah celebration at Bondi Beach killed 15 people. Among the victims were a 10-year-old girl, a Holocaust survivor, and two rabbis. This ISIS-inspired act of terror shocked the nation, marked Australia’s deadliest ever terrorist attack, and demonstrated the lethal consequences of unchecked hatred. The attack tragically vindicated the February 2025 assessment of ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess that antisemitism was Australia’s leading threat to life.

• Antisemitic hatred has infiltrated every aspect of Jewish life in Australia. The geographic concentration of attacks tells a troubling story: New South Wales recorded over 650 incidents, whilst Victoria experienced over 730 incidents during the 2024-25 period. Residents of these states report the highest awareness of antisemitism, with 17% of NSW residents and 14% of Victorian residents having seen or heard about antisemitic incidents in their local areas.

• Jewish schoolchildren have been targeted on school excursions, in classrooms, and on public transport. The Community Security Group (CSG) recorded 65 incidents at Jewish schools in 2024 alone. Incidents include children as young as ten confronted with Nazi salutes and chants, students told to “die in a gas chamber” by classmates, and primary school students harassed during educational outings. In a survey of 584 Jewish educators in school settings, 61.6% had personally experienced or witnessed antisemitism.

• Jewish homes, businesses, schools, and places of worship have been subjected to boycotts, doxxing, vandalism, and arson attacks. A childcare centre adjacent to a synagogue was set alight with graffiti reading “FUCK THE JEWS.” Cars in Jewish neighbourhoods were firebombed with antisemitic slogans painted on them. Synagogues were defaced with swastikas and attempts made to set them on fire whilst congregants were inside.

• Jewish students and staff report harassment, abuse, and intimidation on university campuses, with many describing feelings of being unsafe or unwelcome in educational settings.

• In the arts and creative industries, the personal details of approximately 600 Jewish Australians working in academia and creative fields were leaked from a private group and compiled into a publicly circulated list. Recipients reported death threats, families forced into hiding, and businesses closed. Jewish artists, writers, and performers have reported exclusion from festivals, cancelled appearances, and professional boycotts based on their identity or perceived political views

Note - Underreporting remains a significant issue, with many incidents never formally recorded, suggesting that the scale of lived experience far exceeds the official record.