Australia/Israel Review

A new survey of Jewish and Israeli university staff and students in Australia has revealed how the explosion in antisemitism and anti-Israel protests, harassment and threats to their safety has impacted their capacity to work and study, as well as negatively affected their relationships with co-workers and fellow students.

In the new survey, conducted by the Australian Academic Alliance Against Antisemitism (5A), 67% of all combined staff and student respondents said they had personally experienced antisemitic comments. 

Meanwhile, 44% of students and staff from 30 universities across Australia reported they had suffered from feeling ignored or excluded since October 7, while 39% said they had been insulted or harassed via social media, 19% said they had been “cancelled” and four per cent reported being physically assaulted. 

When asked how the dramatic increase in antisemitism and anti-Israel rhetoric had impacted their relationships with their non-Jewish fellow students and co-workers, 30% of students and staff combined surveyed stated that they had become “distant”, 13% reported they had become “disconnected”, while 47% reported their relationships had stayed “about the same”.

When it came to concern over antisemitism from the political aspect, 66% of students and staff combined were “very concerned” about the left, but only 14% said they felt the same about the right. 

When asked if they were confident about lodging a complaint “without risking discrimination against you or other negative impacts” at their university, 48% of students said “no” and 26% said “not sure”; 46% of staff said “no” and 19% said “not sure”. Only 15% of staff and 26% of students thought their university’s complaints procedures were fair and adequate. 

The 5A survey, conducted by veteran social scientists Andrew Markus and Efrat Eilam and released in early March, focused on four main issues: the experiences of antisemitism on campus, both physical and online; experiences of students in the classroom; experiences of academic and administrative staff in the workplace; and how universities responded.

As well as answering set survey questions, students and staff shared many personal experiences and emotions, including:

• Being afraid to have their Jewish identity revealed;
• Being afraid to attend class;
• Being unable to focus in class whilst protestors chanted for the deaths of Jews and Israelis;
• Constant bombardment of antisemitic and anti-Israel posters, flyers and graffiti;
• Student groups performing the Nazi salute and singing Nazi songs in front of Jewish students;
• One respondent reported that a colleague had said, “Jews caused all the problems in the world. If the Arabs wiped them out, they would be doing the world a favour”; and
• One respondent said they were spat upon for wearing a Star of David necklace.

The survey results reflect 18 months of anecdotal evidence and media reports from university staff and students. They also revealed similar findings to those of the Federal Government’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism Jillian Segal, who made a submission to the Senate inquiry into the Antisemitism at Australian Universities Bill 2024, which sought to determine whether a full formal commission of inquiry should be established.

The Special Envoy’s submission stated: “Jewish students are traumatised and feel isolated and unsafe,” with the data she cited finding nearly 70% of university staff “experienced an antisemitic incident or discourse in their immediate workplace,” with students and staff “intimidated and unwilling to complain to universities because they lack trust… or they fear retribution in some form.”

AIJAC’s submission to the same inquiry noted, “Antisemitism is growing at an alarming rate across the tertiary sector in Australia. Furthermore, beyond its intrinsically repugnant nature and the threats that it poses to student safety and wellbeing, we are concerned that antisemitism on campus is also acting to curtail academic freedom.” AIJAC noted the disruption of classes, the display of hate symbols, the racial vilification and incitement, the encampments that restricted freedom of movement and the lack of disciplinary action against those who broke university rules.

According to the 5A report, overall, only 38% of Jewish students and 36% of academic staff said they felt safe on campus and just 36% of students and 30% of academic staff said they felt safe on virtual campus (online classes and conferences, for example).

The online survey was conducted between April and July 2024 and included Jewish and Israeli academics, adjunct and administrative staff and undergraduate and graduate students. Five hundred and forty-eight respondents from 30 universities took part in the survey. The majority of respondents were from Monash University, the University of Sydney, the University of New South Wales and the University of Melbourne.

Report co-author Associate Professor Efrat Eilam of Victoria University said 5A hopes the report will be used to inform university policy-making and regulations relating to antisemitism.

In February 2025, 39 Australian universities adopted an antisemitism definition drafted by a working committee of the Group of Eight (GoE), Australia’s largest universities, following a recommendation from last year’s federal parliamentary inquiry into antisemitism at universities, which reported in February. The definition was not the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitism, adopted by the Australian Government and numerous other countries, which disappointed some in the Jewish community. However, the new definition was developed following consultation with Ms Segal and other Jewish community representatives. 

In response to the adoption of the new definition, 5A’s Efrat Eilam said, “it is early days.”

“We need to see changes in their disciplinary complaint systems, more transparency and more enforcement. It is too early to assess the extent to which universities are taking measurable actions to close the rhetoric-practice gap on antisemitism.”

She added that for long-term cultural change, policy enforcement must go hand-in-hand with education. 

5A was formed following the October 7 terror attacks and is apolitical. Its members represent 31 Australian universities.