A Royal Commission into Antisemitism in Australia has heard allegations of harassment, intimidation, discrimination and misconduct against students and teachers at some of the country’s top universities. Witnesses at the hearing claimed that university authorities failed to take appropriate action in various incidents, leading to increased insecurity among Jewish students and teachers.
Former Monash University student Paris Enten told the commission that some students behaved in a highly disrespectful manner during a visit to Holocaust memorials in Europe in 2024. According to her, a group of students led by two Jewish teachers visited Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic.
Enten alleged that during the visit, some students recorded TikTok videos of themselves dancing near various concentration camps, including Auschwitz. Others expressed reluctance to visit the Holocaust Memorial and the former Jewish ghetto in the morning because of drinking the night before. He said his grandparents survived the Holocaust, so these behaviors deeply affected him.
He added that some students questioned whether Jews were really the main victims of the Holocaust. Although the teachers in charge of the tour tried to educate the students by explaining the historical context. According to Enten, after the tour, the university should have taken stricter disciplinary measures against the accused students.
Only two of the 23-member group were Jewish students. While testifying to the commission, Enten said that his family members grew up with horrific memories of torture, deportation and genocide. In particular, he has been hearing stories about his grandmother, who was a teenager during the Holocaust, since he was a child.
He added that he encountered or witnessed several anti-Semitic incidents while studying at Monash University between 2020 and 2025. While some incidents were reported, many were not officially reported.
Melbourne University Professor Steven Prawer also testified at the hearing. He said he felt threatened when a group of masked and keffiyeh-clad protesters entered his office building during pro-Palestinian protests in 2024.
Prawer said a group of about 20 people approached his office, surrounded him, made various complaints about his academic ties to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and demanded to speak to them. He initially did not know if it was just a protest or the beginning of a more serious attack.
When the situation became heated, university security removed him to a safe location. The protesters left the building when police arrived.
He said being surrounded inside his workplace was much more frightening than a typical protest in the open. He said no professor should be intimidated or pressured because of his research or academic collaboration with a foreign university.
The University of Melbourne has stepped up its security, implemented additional security measures for entry to buildings and implemented special travel arrangements.
Prawer said that a private investigation led by the family had identified some of the accused as university students, but they had not been identified. He had also not been given the university’s full investigation report.
He criticised the lack of transparency in the university’s disciplinary process, questioning why the accused were only suspended rather than expelled. He said a clear distinction needed to be drawn between freedom of political expression and behaviour that could be considered harassment, intimidation or disruptive.
A spokesperson for the University of Melbourne said the university recognised the impact of these incidents on Professor Prawer and his family. The university continued to support its research and international collaborations and was committed to eliminating all forms of hatred and discrimination.
The hearing was also attended by Jeremy Sasse, president of the Australasian Union of Jewish Students. He alleged that Jewish students and former students were targeted by having their personal information and work details published online.
According to him, the employment details of some former Jewish student leaders were disseminated online, which was very worrying for them. He said that being the leader of a Jewish student organization was considered by many to be evidence of a crime.
Sass also said that he had to face public questioning on campus about the Gaza war. At one point, protesters indicated that they knew where Jewish students regularly gathered, which made him concerned for his safety. He also alleged that a speaker at a pro-Palestinian camp pointed at him and his friends and made hostile comments against Zionism.
According to him, Monash University has done a better job of investigating the allegations than many institutions. However, most universities waste time in lengthy debates about whether the behavior officially amounted to “anti-Semitism”; Rather, the matter should be considered as a case of bullying, harassment, intimidation, or leakage of personal information at the outset.Researcher Dr. Bren Carlile presented data from a survey conducted in 2023 to the commission. The survey, conducted by the Zionist Federation of Australia and published before the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023, found that 64 per cent of Jewish students who participated in the survey said they had been the victim of anti-Semitic incidents at least once during their university years.
Of those who reported such experiences, 88 per cent said the incidents had occurred within the past 12 months. The most common complaint was that they had faced fear and insecurity simply because of their Jewish identity. In addition, negative perceptions of Jews’ wealth, influence or power also led to various forms of discrimination.
Dr. Carlile said that many Jewish students do not make formal complaints to universities because they do not believe that the authorities will take effective action. According to him, this tendency to not complain is preventing universities from understanding the true extent of the problem on campus.
The Royal Commission is currently continuing to hear from Jewish students, teachers and former students and the universities’ responses. The commission is specifically examining how effective higher education institutions have been in addressing allegations of anti-Semitism, harassment, and intimidation.
