Australian Jewish women experiencing mass antisemitism, research says

Shirley Leader told the royal commission of the research from the National Council of Jewish Women of Australia. (ABC News) About 80 per cent of Jewish women in Australia have experienced antisemitism personally or against an immediate family member in the past two years. The research from the National Council of Jewish Women of Australia has been released amid the royal commission into antisemitism. The commission is in its second week of public hearings. Link copiedShareShare articleAbout 80 per cent of Jewish women in Australia have experienced antisemitism personally or against an immediate family member in the past two years, a royal commission sparked by the Bondi terror attack has heard. More than 600 people shared their experience with antisemitism as part of a survey conducted by the National Council of Jewish Women of Australia between July 2025 and February 2026. Eighty-one per cent of respondents had, or had a relative who had, experienced antisemitism since October 7, 2023, when 1,200 people were killed when Hamas attacked Israel. The survey found 20 per cent of respondents or their relatives had experienced physical violence or verbal abuse, and 69 per cent said they had been called genocidal because they self-identified as Jewish, Israeli or Zionist. The research found some respondents had been called genocidal because they self-identified as Jewish, Israeli or Zionist. (ABC News: Keana Naughton) Some women gave examples of the incidents they had experienced, including one woman who spoke of being verbally abused at a Queensland hospital. "A nurse at a Queensland hospital screamed at me and said I didn't deserve care because I'm Jewish," the respondent told the survey. Another woman said her child in high school was "spat on, punched in the chest, held down, choked and shouted at". More than 50 per cent of survey respondents said they had heard claims the October 7, 2023 attack on Israelis was "justified" or did not occur. The date marks when Hamas unleashed a coordinated assault on Israel that killed 1,200 people and took another 250 hostages. "One of my best friends queried the rape, assault and murder of women on October 7," one respondent told the survey. Council vice president Shirley Leader presented the survey results to the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion on Tuesday. The royal commission has been set up in the wake of the Bondi terror attack. (ABC News: Liam Patrick) Ms Leader told the commission the denial of sexual assaults against Jewish women in Israel on October 7, 2023 was particularly harmful. She said much of the denial could come from the "women's sector", and "so-called feminists in so-called progressive spaces" in Australia who would question or "mock" reports of sexual abuse during the Hamas attacks. "Their solidarity with Jewish women has been absolutely trashed by the women's movement." The commission is in its second week of public hearings, and has heard evidence from dozens of people with lived experience of antisemitism. Some of the sessions have been held behind closed doors due to matters of national security and ongoing criminal proceedings. The commission also heard from NSW Jewish Board of Deputies CEO Michele Goldman, who said the organisation had to "ramp up" its support across the community since October 7, 2023 and again after the Bondi terror attack on December 15, 2025. Michele Goldman gave examples to the commission of antisemitic incidents she had heard of from the community. (ABC News ) Ms Goldman gave a number of examples of having met with leadership at schools across NSW following reports of antisemitism, including one instance where a 10-year-old boy was "pinned to the ground and punched" by another student. The boy was shown a photo of Adolf Hitler, who was described as the other student's "idol". Ms Goldman said it took "many months" for the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies to get a meeting with the school leadership to discuss the issue, with the principal agreeing to conduct excursions to the Sydney Holocaust Museum and rollout teacher training to deter antisemitism. But she said the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies did not have the resources to directly respond to all reports of antisemitic incidents in the community. "A more systemic solution is needed," she said.

Australian Jewish women experiencing mass antisemitism, research says

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