PRESS RELEASE | JOINT STATEMENT (The Dor Foundation, ECAJ, NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, JCCV, Zionist Federation of Australia, NCJWA, AIJAC) | 3 MAY 2026
JEWISH AUSTRALIANS TO SPEAK AS ROYAL COMMISSION OPENS
The lesson of history is that hatred, left unchallenged, does not stop at speech and ends in violence. The Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion was established in the wake of the worst terrorist attack on Australian soil, but what the Commission will hear over the coming fortnight is not only about that day, but the climate that has been building long before Bondi.
Over the first hearing block beginning on 4 May, Jewish Australians will give evidence about how that climate has played out in their lives, in their workplaces, on the sporting fields and in the places their children go to school.
Giving evidence about these experiences takes courage. Many of those appearing are speaking publicly for the first time.
They are doing so because they believe this country can be better, and because they want the Commissioner to hear their truths and recommend changes that will make all Australians safer.
During the public hearings, the Commission will hear from Jewish Australians across all walks of life.
University students whose campuses have become places of routine hostility. Teachers and school communities carrying the weight of hate speech on Jewish children and families. Artists, musicians, and health care workers who have faced hostility, pressure, and exclusion just because of who they are.
For many, the evidence will be what it feels like to think twice before wearing a Star of David or a kippah in public. For some parents, it will be the conversations they have had with their children about not identifying as Jewish at school, or the morning they arrived to find their school graffitied with targeted abuse.
Small business owners will tell the Commission about customers who have stopped coming through the door, and staff who no longer feel safe at work. Employees will talk about workplaces that have become hostile or uncomfortable, where they can no longer be open about being how they are.
The leaders, staff and volunteers of Jewish community organisations have supported families, schools and individuals through sustained trauma and abuse, while carrying their own. They will give evidence about what that has been like.
And many will testify about what it is to enter a synagogue, Jewish community centre or school by walking past armed guards – guards who are there because the threats against any place where Jewish Australians meet are real and ongoing.
This is the lived experience of Australian families, students, business owners, and community members across the country – people who want nothing more than to live freely, openly and safely as Australians.
Taken together, their accounts will give the Commission a clear picture of how discrimination has touched nearly every part of Australian Jewish life and it does not reflect the Australia we have loved and contributed to for generations.
Monday's hearings are an opportunity for those voices to be heard, and for the Commission to continue gathering the facts that we hope will underpin practical, evidence-based recommendations that will help make all Australians safer.
Australia's mainstream Jewish communal organisations – the ECAJ, JBOD, JCCV, ZFA, NCJWA, The Dor Foundation and AIJAC – are represented before the Commission by Arnold Bloch Leibler, acting pro bono, working with counsel team.
Quotes attributable to Peter Wertheim AM, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ)
“This Commission is the most significant national examination of antisemitism in Australia’s history. Over the next fortnight, the country will hear from the people who lead our community alongside ordinary Australians who have lived through what happens when words of hatred go unchallenged long enough that they stop being only words. The Jewish community is approaching this as Australians asking Australian institutions to look honestly at what has happened in this country and what needs to change.”
Quotes attributable to Michele Goldman, Chief Executive Officer, The NSW Jewish Board of Deputies
“This Royal Commission is an independent inquiry of the highest order, and it merits the serious and constructive engagement of the community. The witnesses appearing over the coming fortnight reflect the breadth of our community – its lay leaders, rabbis, educators, and people who have simply tried to get on with their lives. We are encouraging Jewish Australians to engage directly with the Commission, thoughtfully and constructively, so it can properly understand what is happening and make recommendations that strengthen safety and cohesion for everyone.
Quotes attributable to Philip Zajac , President, Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV):
“Australians want their Jewish friends, colleagues and neighbours to feel safe in this country. The witnesses giving evidence in this first block include people whose ordinary lives have been turned upside down. Our community is engaging with this process constructively and in good faith, because that is how lasting change is made in this country.”
Quotes attributable to Jeremy Leibler, President, Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA)
What we are witnessing in Australia is a contemporary form of an ancient hatred. History teaches us with terrible consistency that when this hatred is normalised - when it moves from the margins into the mainstream unchallenged - violence follows, as we witnessed in Bondi. The Commission opens today with an opportunity to hear directly from Jewish Australians about what they have been experiencing, to understand how we arrived here, and what needs to be done to ensure that all Australians can live, and participate fully in this country, free from hatred and free from fear.
Quotes attributable to representative, National Council of Jewish Women of Australia (NCJWA)
“Behind every statistic the Commission will examine is a parent doing the school run, a student walking onto a campus, a woman deciding whether to wear her Star of David in public – all of them worried whether that day is the day they will be abused or attacked for who they are. We know that lived experience is not fair and not what our great country is all about.
Quotes attributable to Tahli Blicblau, Chief Executive Officer, The Dor Foundation:
“It is a devastating reality that people had to lose their lives for Australia to have this reckoning. But this Commission is now the most powerful mechanism we have to ensure the country learns from Bondi and acts before another tragedy occurs. Our hope is that the Commission hears the daily lived experience of being Jewish in our country and makes recommendations to make the lives of all Australians safer.”
Quotes attributable to Joel Burnie, Executive Manager, Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC)
“Australians overwhelmingly reject hatred, and that is the foundation this Commission is built on. What is being tested is not the Jewish community. It is whether Australian institutions still hold to the standards of safety and equal protection that all Australians take for granted. The witnesses in this opening group – faith leaders, professionals, and parents – are not presenting an abstract argument; they are giving direct testimony on how conditions in this country have markedly deteriorated in recent years.”
Background
Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) – The national peak representative body of the Australian Jewish community, bringing together state roof bodies and major national organisations to provide an authoritative and unified communal voice.
NSW Jewish Board of Deputies (JBOD) – The democratically constituted representative body of the Jewish community in New South Wales, advocating for communal interests and acting as a recognised spokesperson to government and civic institutions.
Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV) – The elected peak roof body of Victoria’s Jewish community, representing affiliated organisations and serving as the principal liaison with government and the broader public.
Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA) – The elected, national representative body of Australia’s Jewish community representing over 200 organisations across Australia, including state Zionist councils active in six states
National Council of Jewish Women of Australia (NCJWA) –– Founded in 1923, it is the oldest Jewish community organisation in Australia. NCJWA is the peak representative body for Jewish Australian women, and focuses on human rights, social justice and the advancement of all women.
The Dor Foundation (Dor) – A national not-for-profit established to combat antisemitism and hate and strengthen social cohesion in Australia.
Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) – A national public affairs organisation representing the interests of the Australian Jewish community, engaging government, media and civil society on issues affecting Jewish Australians and Australia–Israel relations.
ABL Lead Partners
Leon Zwier
Raphael Leibler
Counsel includes:
John Sheahan KC
Michael Borsky KC
Nicholas Bender SC
Gabi Crafti SC