Universities threatened with funding cuts under proposed plan to tackle antisemitism in Australia

Australian universities may lose funding if they’re not judged to be doing enough to address anti-Jewish hate crimes, according to new measures proposed by the country’s first antisemitism envoy.

Jillian Segal was appointed to the role a year ago in response to a surge in reports of attacks against Jewish sites and property in Australia, following Israel’s invasion of Gaza, and was tasked with combating antisemitism in the country.

Standing alongside Prime Minister Anthony Albanese Thursday, Segal released a report nine months in the making proposing strong measures, including the university funding threats and the screening of visa applicants for extremist views.

“The plan is not about special treatment for one community; it is about restoring equal treatment,” Segal said. “It’s about ensuring that every Australian, regardless of their background or belief, can live, work, learn and prosper in this country.”

Like in the United States, Australian campuses were once the hub of pro-Palestinian protests led by students who pitched tents demanding action to stop Israel’s assault on Gaza.

The campus protests dwindled after restrictions were tightened and some protesters were threatened with expulsion, a move condemned by the activists as an infringement on free speech.

Segal’s report said antisemitism had become “ingrained and normalised” within academia and university courses, as well as on campuses, and recommended universities be made subject to annual report cards assessing their effectiveness in combating antisemitism.

Universities Australia chief executive Luke Sheehy said the organization had been working “constructively” with the special envoy and its members would “consider the recommendations.”

“Academic freedom and freedom of expression are core to the university mission, but they must be exercised with responsibility and never as a cover for hate or harassment,” he said in a statement.

Surge in antisemitism

Antisemitic attacks in Australia surged 300% in the year following Israel’s invasion of Gaza in October 2023.

In the past week alone, the door of a synagogue was set on fire in Melbourne, forcing 20 occupants to flee by a rear exit, as nearby protesters shouting “Death to the IDF” – using the initials of the Israeli military – stormed an Israeli-owned restaurant.

A man is facing arson charges over the synagogue attack, and three people were charged Tuesday with assault, affray, riotous behavior and criminal damage over the restaurant raid.

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry, which Segal once led and is the umbrella organization for hundreds of Jewish community groups, said the report’s release “could not be more timely given the recent appalling events in Melbourne.”

However, the Jewish Council of Australia, which opposes Israel’s war in Gaza, voiced concerns about Segal’s plan, saying it carried the overtones of US President Donald Trump’s attempts to use funding as a means of control over institutions.

In a statement, the council criticized the plan’s “emphasis on surveillance, censorship, and punitive control over the funding of cultural and educational institutions,” adding that they were “measures straight out of Trump’s authoritarian playbook.”

Max Kaiser, the group’s executive officer, said: “Any response that treats antisemitism as exceptional, while ignoring Islamophobia, anti-Palestinian racism, and other forms of hate, is doomed to fail.”

Education, immigration and the arts

The envoy’s 20-page plan includes sweeping recommendations covering schools, immigration, media, policing and public awareness campaigns.

Segal wants Holocaust and antisemitism education baked into the national curriculum “as a major case study of where unchecked antisemitism can lead,” according to the report.

Arts organizations could be subject to the same restrictions as universities, with threats to pull public funding if they’re found to have engaged in, or facilitated, antisemitism.

“While freedom of expression, particularly artistic expression, is vital to cultural richness and should be protected, funding provided by Australian taxpayers should not be used to promote division or spread false/ distorted narratives,” the report said.

Under the recommendations, tougher immigration screening would weed out people with antisemitic views, and the Migration Act would enable authorities to cancel visas for antisemitic conduct.

Media would be monitored to “encourage accurate, fair and responsible reporting” and to “avoid accepting false or distorted narratives,” the report added.

During Thursday’s press conference, Albanese pointed to an interview on the country’s national broadcaster with a protester, saying the interviewee tried to justify the Melbourne restaurant attack.

“There is no justification for that whatsoever,” he said. “The idea that somehow the cause of justice for Palestinians is advanced by behavior like that is not only delusional, it is destructive, and it is not consistent with how you are able to put forward your views respectfully in a democracy,” he said.

Asked if the country had become less tolerant of different views and had, perhaps, lost the ability to have a debate, Albanese pointed to social media.

“I think there is an impact of social media, where algorithms work to reinforce people’s views,” he said. “They reinforce views, and they push people towards extremes, whether it be extreme left, extreme right. Australians want a country that is in the center.”

His comments came as Grok, X’s AI chatbot, was called out for spreading antisemitic tropes that the company said it was “actively working to remove.”

Albanese said, regarding antisemitic views, “social media has a social responsibility, and they need to be held to account.”

Asked whether anti-Israel protests were fueling the antisemitic attacks, the prime minister said people should be able to express their views without resorting to hate.

“In Israel itself, as a democracy, there is protest against actions of the government, and in a democracy, you should be able to express your view here in Australia about events overseas,” he said. “Where the line has been crossed is in blaming and identifying people because they happen to be Jewish.”