Australian Universities Face Pressure Over Antisemitism on Campus

A government-led inquiry into antisemitism at Australian universities heard troubling testimony this week from students and staff who experienced harassment and hate speech on campus. The Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion held hearings in Melbourne on July 13, 2026, where four witnesses described incidents ranging from Nazi salutes in classrooms to being called slurs by fellow students.

What happened

A tutor and PhD candidate at UNSW — identified only as "ACJ" to protect his safety — told the commission that four students performed Nazi salutes toward him during a 2024 business class. ACJ's grandparents survived the Holocaust, and he said Nazi soldiers killed many of his extended family members. He reported the incident to his supervisors and said he wanted to file a police report. UNSW initially gave the students a formal warning. Only after the NSW Police opened an investigation did the university suspend them The Guardian.

A student at the Australian National University, identified as "Liat," described losing most of her non-Jewish friends after the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. She said other students called her a "baby killer" and "genocide supporter" in connection with a pro-Palestine protest camp on campus. A Jewish student in Melbourne, called "ACL," said that after October 2023, she stopped wearing her religious pendant on campus for the first time because she didn't feel safe The Guardian.

Michael Gencher, who runs StandWithUs Australia, an advocacy group, said he personally heard Jewish students being called "baby killers" at a university cafe in mid-2024. He also told the commission that universities have responded more quickly to antisemitism complaints since a terrorist attack in Sydney killed six people at a Jewish celebration in December 2025. However, some Jewish students have stopped going to campus altogether because they don't feel safe The Guardian.

Why this matters

The gap between what universities did internally and what happened only after outside pressure — police involvement, media attention, or the commission itself — sits at the heart of what this inquiry is examining. Universities are responsible for protecting all their students and staff. When incidents happen, the question is not just whether they get investigated, but how fast and seriously.

The December 2025 terrorist attack prompted the federal government to establish this commission and to change the law. Parliament made it a criminal offense with mandatory jail time to perform a Nazi salute, a move directly tied to incidents like the one ACJ described 9News Melbourne. What ACJ witnessed happened before that law changed.

The wider picture

The commission opened in January 2026 and has been traveling between Sydney and Melbourne to hear evidence. It received more than 20,000 written submissions — a number that shows how many people wanted to share their experiences or concerns about this issue.

A troubling detail has emerged: some witnesses who testified in earlier hearings were later attacked with antisemitic messages online. One man in New South Wales was charged with sending offensive emails to a witness The Guardian. That's why many witnesses in Melbourne are using pseudonyms instead of their real names. The government has also set up a legal aid service to help people who want to participate in the inquiry.

What comes next

The commission is moving methodically through hearings in both cities before it issues a final report. The evidence emerging so far shows a pattern: students and staff face real harassment in classrooms and on campus, they often feel isolated socially, and universities sometimes moved slowly until they faced external pressure.

How seriously the commission takes these stories, and what it recommends universities do differently, will likely shape campus policies across the country for years to come.