Australian Jewish Community Reports Unprecedented Security Needs at Royal Commission
Melbourne, Australia — Jewish community representatives have told the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion that security requirements have soared since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, forcing synagogues to cancel services and divert funds to cover security costs.
Counsel assisting Richard Lancaster told the commission that synagogues have canceled Friday night services because they "couldn't afford to pay a guard, and felt that they could not discharge their duty of care to congregants without one." Lancaster said the commission has received submissions from many synagogues across Australia, with a constant theme being the organizational time, energy, and money committed to security. He noted that no other religious community in the country faces such a burden just to attend school or a religious service.
The fifth hearing block, which began Monday, focuses on Jewish security concerns. Witnesses included senior rabbi Allison Conyer, who chairs the Union for Progressive Judaism, and Naomi Levin from the Jewish Community Council of Victoria.
Rabbi Conyer said progressive Jewish movements have been subjected to abusive phone calls, bomb threats, and lockdown drills, describing antisemitism as having increased "almost exponentially" since the October 2023 attack. She provided examples of Jewish Australians being vilified regardless of their background or views on the war, including a left-wing university student told "we don't want your Zionist scum here" and another student who defined herself as anti-Zionist receiving death threats. "This is blatant antisemitism, hiding itself and using Zionism as an excuse," she said.
Naomi Levin told the commission that security needs at Jewish sites soared as antisemitic incidents increased amid Israel's military campaign in Gaza. "It's unprecedented for a community organisation to be sitting behind the level of security that we do," she said, adding it is "entirely necessary." Levin said the council began regularly engaging with police after October 2023 but grappled with a "disconnect" between its conversations with police and what it could tell the community. She recalled a 2024 clash between protest groups in Melbourne's CBD, describing "a level of vitriol against Jewish people who were peacefully demonstrating that was outside what we'd ever seen before." There was a perception that police didn't step in, she said, though she acknowledged the council sometimes had operational information it could not repeat.
Tahli Blicblau, CEO of the Dor Foundation, told the commission of a convergence of radical ideologies—Islamic extremism, the extreme far-right, fringe elements of the far-left, and conspiracy movements—that have "little in common other than their willingness to resort to violence to further their cause and their shared hatred for Jews." She said this convergence, along with domestic and foreign terrorist organizations, is creating a security environment that is "unprecedented and therefore demands an unprecedented level of sophistication and integration in its response."
The Community Security Group (CSG) Victoria reported increased incident reports since October 7, with volunteer hours rising accordingly. A senior CSG figure estimated more than 113,700 hours were given by volunteer security guards and administrative staff in 2025. "The pressure has been immense on all of our staff and volunteers," the witness said. Another CSG member told the commission that being a security worker takes a psychological toll, saying "I quite quickly became desensitized to the impact."
Former Australian Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has urged the government to impose restrictions on protests outside synagogues, as reported by the Jerusalem Post.
The Royal Commission is probing how Jewish people have been treated in Australia and the security requirements of Jewish communities in the post-October 7 environment.