Royal Commission into antisemitism and social cohesion
Quakers Australia have just made a submission to the Royal Commission on antisemitism and social cohesion. Given the heavy laden context of the submission, the Quaker Peace and Legislation Committee (QPLC) have given much consideration to how Quakers might engage. QPLC are grateful to the Quakers who responded to an earlier note in Streamlines to contribute, the advice from the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (of which Quakers are a member) and the Jewish Council of Australia and other concerned Friends.
Download and Read the Submission (PDF)
Submission: Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion
Quakers Australia appreciates this opportunity to provide a submission to the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion.
As Quakers we seek a world without war. We seek a sustainable and just community. We have a vision of an Australia that upholds human rights and builds peace internationally, with particular focus on our region. In our approach to government, we promote the importance of dialogue, of listening and of seeking that of God in every person. We aim to work for justice and to take away the occasion of war.
Australian Quakers come from a variety of backgrounds, including a number who identify as Jewish Quakers, have Jewish family connections or are active in a Jewish congregation. Those with Jewish connections have been core active voices in Quaker advocacy for Palestinian rights, and all Quakers seek to respect all humanity regardless of ethnicity, religion or gender. One of our members recently stated that ‘The Bondi attack was a tragedy, but it is not a reason to clamp down on legitimate protests…We must not allow divisions to flourish in our society. I believe that my many relatives who perished in the Holocaust will have died in vain if we have learned nothing.’
In approaching the question of antisemitism and social cohesion, we urge the government to proceed with balance and to focus on universal protections for all people, against racial or religious discrimination and vilification, rather than targeted protections for particular groups. We also urge the government to work within the framework of existing structures, particularly the Australian Human Rights Commission; and legislation, such as the Racial Discrimination Act 1975, rather than attempting to create new bodies and new regulatory mechanisms for specific groups.
We also want to underscore the importance of protecting political expression and to ensure that anti-Zionism is not conflated with antisemitism. Zionism is a term that means vastly different things to many people, and all people must have the freedom of conscience to reject a political ideology, such as Zionism, without this being impugned as antisemitic. We note a range of Jewish voices, including the Jewish Council of Australia argue strongly that anti-Zionism cannot be included in any definition of antisemitism.
Quakers are deeply concerned about laws recently introduced in New South Wales and Queensland that are already restricting political expression regarding advocacy for Palestine that we believe fit well within the bounds of reasonable political advocacy.
Quakers read with deep concern the report into Anti-Palestinian racism released in April 2026 by the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network; and the reports of the Islamophobia Register, both of which document patterns of disturbing and increasing racism against these groups. We think it is vital that racism against all groups is considered equally abhorrent within our society, and hope the recommendations of this Royal Commission can provide recommendations that do not further reinforce prejudices against any group.
While the Royal Commission’s Letters Patent focus on antisemitism in reaction to the horrific attack on Bondi Beach, we urge the Commission to remember that Item a(i) calls on the Commission to examine key drivers including ‘religious and ideologically motivated extremism and radicalization’ – not just antisemitic activities and attitudes, throughout its deliberations and recommendation development.
Two possible avenues to strengthen Australia’s social cohesion and resilience are: (1) providing greater resources to support the national anti-racism framework, and (2) legislating a National Human Rights Act. The proposed Act, based on the Australian Human Rights Commission model, would increase the responsibility of governments to consider how their laws, policies and actions might affect people’s human rights. Australia continues to be the only liberal democracy in the world that does not have a national act or charter of rights that explains what people’s basic rights are and how they can be protected.
A National Human Rights Act, and bolstered support for existing human rights policies and programs, will automatically strengthen Australia’s social cohesion and resilience to respond to our country’s intersecting challenges in the years ahead.
While the Royal Commission focuses on religious and ideologically motivated extremism and radicalization (a.i, a.ii) as major threats to social cohesion, we draw the Commission’s attention to the March 2026 report Social Cohesion and Support for Democracy in Australia: assessing recent polling data and frameworks by Australia National University’s Professors Nicholas Biddle and Matthew Gray. In their conclusion, Biddle and Gray state that ‘…strengthening social cohesion cannot rely solely on enforcement, surveillance, or post-incident responses to antisemitism’ (p.19). While we understand their point that ‘interventions to strengthen social cohesion should be targeted rather than purely universal…(p.19) we reiterate our earlier statement that support or interventions should be balanced rather than focused on one particular religious or ethnic group.
In February 2020, ASIO director general Mike Burgess said that ‘In Australia, the extreme right-wing threat is real and growing’ (ABC News, 24 February 2020). Five years later he said the growth and trends of right-wing extremism in Australia show that ‘…the young are getting younger…our minors caseload is …around 85 per cent male, and overwhelmingly Australian-born’. (Alvaro, DefenceConnect, 2026). We anticipate that the Royal Commission’s recommendations will include measures to combat far-right extremism and its threat to Australia’s social cohesion.
Australia’s small but growing sovereign citizen movement is another threat to the country’s social cohesion. A 31 October 2024 Roy Morgan poll introduced a ‘newly identified group of over 1 million Australians [who] feel increasing marginalized, distrusting the government and believing the nation’s core values are under threat…their sense of disillusionment is growing nationwide’. Acknowledging that not all disenfranchised individuals become part of a sovereign citizen movement, their experiences and perceptions make the movement an attractive alternative to life in a democratic system.
Lydia Khalil, from The Lowy Institute puts it simply, ‘A functioning democratic society based on the rule of law is threatened when a portion of the population believe that the rules and laws don’t apply to them.’ Khalil also points out that the movement would not fall within the new extremist group designation under the 2026 Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism Bill. This and the fact that sovereign citizens, already wary of government and law enforcement, will be difficult to engage; means that an even more targeted approach will be needed to prevent them from dismantling or abandoning infrastructures which support Australian democracy and social cohesion.
It would seem that one of the greatest things that the Australian Government could do to increase social cohesion is to implement measures that decrease social inequality.
Finally, while the Commission’s task evolves around ‘religious and ideologically motivated extremism and radicalisation’ we draw your attention to the disruptive impact of much broader influencing agents. Statements by politicians, high profile athletes, celebrities and social media in general can amplify, weaponise and normalize perspectives which can undermine social cohesion. Noting that athletes, celebrities and social media are outside the Commission’s specific remit, public statements by Parliamentarians impact social cohesion and public opinion. Daniel T. Rodgers warns that while in the ‘matter of swaying public opinion, political rhetoric can get pretty vicious…it’s the more subtle manipulation of language and the more unobtrusive the word-as-weapon becomes, the more insidious its effect on an unsuspecting public’. (Luu, JSTOR Daily).
Strong, resilient and reliable social cohesion does not develop in a vacuum. Socioeconomic integration and mobility, individual health and wellbeing, and community capital are all critical to building and maintaining social cohesion. The Commission’s recommendations should acknowledge these interconnections. To close with Biddle and Gray, as quoted by Kelly Barnes: ‘ …social cohesion is not simply the absence of conflict, but the presence of social bonds and shared norms that enable cooperation within a nation…’.
Sources
Alvaro, Bethany. Right-wing identity politics: increasingly loud, extremely close, and growing in threat. Defence Connect. 16 January 2026
Australian Human Rights Commission. A National Human Rights Act for Australia. March 2023. https://humanrights.gov.au/resource-hub/by-resource-type/publications/uncategorised/human-right s-act-for-australia
Australia Palestine Advocacy Network, New report reveals surge in anti-Palestinian racism across Australia,
Barnes, Kelly. We can’t coerce our way to social cohesion. Here’s what else the governments should be doing. 13 March 2026. AAP/The Conversation.
Biddle, Nicholas and Matthew Gray, Social Cohesion and Support for Democracy in Australia: assessing recent polling data and frameworks. ANU, March 2026. School of Politics and International Relations & POLIS: Centre for Social Policy Research.
Greene, Andrew. Neo-Nazis among Australia’s most challenging security threats, ASIO boss Mike Burgess warns. ABC News 24 February 2020.
Islamophobia Register https://islamophobia.com.au/publications/our-reports/
Jewish Council of Australia
Khalil, Lydia. The sovereign citizen challenge. The Interpreter The Lowy Institute, 2 April 2026. https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/sovereign-citizen-challenge
Luu, Chi. The Linguistics of Mass Persuasion: How Politicians Make ‘Fetch’ Happen (Part 1). JSTOR Daily. 10 February 2016.
https://daily.jstor.org/the-linguistics-of-mass-persuasion-how-politicians-make-fetch-happen/
Roy Morgan Polling. Article no. 9726. Over 1 million disenfranchised Australians feel left behind and disconnected from Government. 31 October 2024.
https://www.roymorgan.com/findings/9726-disaffected-australians-october-2024
