Opening Statement by President Hugh de Kretser to the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights, Inquiry into Antisemitism at Australian Universities, delivered on 22 January 2025
Thank you for the opportunity to appear today and for the work of this committee on this important issue. I acknowledge we are meeting on the lands of Ngunnawal and Ngambri people.
Antisemitism is an insidious form of racism and hatred. It has no place in Australia.
Antisemitism harms individuals and communities. It affects people's identity and self-esteem, their sense of belonging and inclusion, their participation in public life and their wellbeing and safety.
There is an alarming and intensifying nationwide rise in antisemitism including arson attacks on synagogues, a parliamentarian's office and now a childcare centre. There has been racist violence, racist graffiti on schools and homes and racist abuse and threats.
The purpose of these vile attacks is to instil fear and division. The targeting of the Australian Jewish community impacts all of us. The strength of any community lies in its ability to defend others. If we fail to protect any minority group from harm, we fail as a nation.
The focus of this inquiry is on responding to the rise in antisemitism at Australian universities. Antisemitism in universities is connected to broader antisemitism in our communities and neighbourhoods.
Universities exist to promote learning and thinking, the exchange of ideas and the development of people and communities.
Essential to these objectives is fostering a culture of respect and inclusion and ensuring safety and freedom from discrimination for all students and staff. Also essential is ensuring universities are places where ideas can be questioned and different views can be respectfully shared.
The Australian Human Rights Commission is strongly focused on addressing antisemitism and all forms of racism.
We provide important access to justice services for people and communities affected by racial discrimination and vilification by receiving, investigating and conciliating complaints under the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth).
We provide expert advice on laws and policies to address racism, discrimination and hate speech including by identifying changes needed to make our national discrimination and vilification laws more effective.
Our National Anti-Racism Framework launched late last year outlines a comprehensive approach for eliminating racism in Australia. We are also undertaking community engagement and awareness raising about racism to support safety in Jewish, Palestinian, Muslim and Arab communities in Australia.
Perhaps most importantly given the terms of reference of this inquiry, we are conducting a landmark national study on the prevalence, nature and impact of racism at universities and how to address it. Eliminating antisemitism at universities is a focus of this work. The Commission's legislation has strong provisions to protect confidential information shared with us through the study. We released our Interim Report last month and our final report is due in June this year.
Our work will complement the work of this inquiry and also that of the inquiry last year by the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee. We thank those who have shared their experiences with these inquiries. The many submissions of students and staff bear witness to the human impact of antisemitism at universities.
Issues around the intersection between freedom from discrimination and vilification and freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are at the heart of this inquiry into antisemitism.
Human rights principles provide practical guidance on how to balance human rights when they intersect and maximise intersecting rights to the greatest extent possible. They require that any limitation on a human right must be for a legitimate purpose and must be no wider than is necessary to achieve that purpose.
Applying these principles will help universities to address antisemitism and promote the human rights of all students and staff.
