Australian universities face scrutiny over antisemitism and protest policies

The Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion is hearing testimony from Australian university leaders about antisemitism and protest management following the October 7, 2023 Gaza conflict. Vice‑chancellors of Monash University, the University of Melbourne, the Australian National University and other institutions described incidents of harassment toward Jewish students, including being called “baby killer”, chants, and alleged Nazi‑salute gestures. Monash vice‑chancellor Professor Sharon Pickering said, “I don’t think I had sufficiently appreciated before how thinly buried antisemitism was in our society and how quickly it was unleashed.”

Universities responded with policy changes: tightening rules on encampments, banning outdoor tents, restricting outsider protests, revising Wi‑Fi surveillance practices, and introducing antisemitism training and by‑stander programmes. The University of Melbourne said its protest policies were altered “quite sharply” after a pro‑Palestine sit‑in, while ANU’s interim vice‑chancellor Professor Rebekah Brown apologized, stating, “Jewish students and staff have an absolute right to feel safe… I’m sorry that they didn’t.”

More than 40 civil‑society groups, including the Human Rights Law Centre, Amnesty International Australia and the National Tertiary Education Union, issued a joint statement urging universities to protect peaceful protest, academic freedom and non‑discriminatory anti‑racism measures. They warned that surveillance, notification requirements and disciplinary threats have a chilling effect on dissent.

The hearings also highlighted peer‑pressure within long‑running Gaza solidarity camps, the removal of power from sites for safety reasons, and ongoing debates over the balance between free speech and hate speech on campus.