Overview
- Public hearings, which opened Monday in Sydney, began with lived accounts from Jewish Australians including the daughter of a Bondi victim and a Holocaust survivor, with some witnesses using pseudonyms for safety.
- Commissioner Virginia Bell said antisemitism has sharply risen in Australia in step with Middle East events, and the inquiry reported more than 7,400 public submissions describing incidents and their impact.
- The interim report released last week set out 14 steps that the government accepted, including tighter security at Jewish events, stronger counter-terror coordination with a full-time national coordinator and required exercises, and work toward tougher, more consistent gun laws.
- The inquiry will next examine intelligence and policing before the Bondi attack in a late-May to June block, with a final report due on December 14, 2026.
- Witnesses described daily life shaped by fear, from doxxing and threats to Jewish schools that now resemble high-security sites, as community groups also logged 2,062 antisemitic incidents in 2024.