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The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) has welcomed the announcement by Federal Education Minister Jason Clare that he would be introducing legislation to Parliament to establish a National Student Ombudsman who could take complaints about antisemitism at universities, among other matters.

AIJAC Executive Director Dr Colin Rubenstein said, “There has long been a serious problem of antisemitism on university campuses, and it has markedly increased since October 7 last year, so it is pleasing that Minister Clare has shown by his comments that he recognises and intends to combat this problem.

“We welcome the potential appointment of a National Student Ombudsman and Minister Clare announcing that he has urged university vice-chancellors to enforce their codes of conduct and asked the university regulator, the TEQSA, to arrange for universities to meet with antisemitism envoy Jillian Segal to discuss what they are doing to combat the problem.

“However, this should be considered no more than a good start,” Dr Rubenstein continued.

“We appreciate that the Ombudsman is intended to have far-reaching powers of investigation, but the role will also have a very broad remit. We still strongly support the establishment of a judicial inquiry into campus antisemitism, as stated in our submission to the Senate Committee investigating the proposed legislation. Such an inquiry, dedicated solely to the issue of antisemitism, and with the powers of a royal commission, is the only way to come to grips with the full extent of the problem, and begin to remedy it. It is simply unacceptable that Jewish students and staff feel unsafe on campus,” Dr Rubenstein concluded.