Michelle Ananda-Rajah (Higgins, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

According to a survey by the Australasian Union of Jewish Students and the Zionist Federation of Australia, more than two-thirds of Jewish students have experienced anti-Semitism at universities. Over half have chosen to hide their Jewish identity, and one in five choose to avoid campus altogether. After the cloistered environment of school, young people set foot into university aiming to aim high. They are unshackled from the oversight of teachers and parents to spread their wings, broaden their horizons and step outside their comfort zone. That should not mean stepping into harm's way.

With university still split on whether to adopt the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism, it is no surprise that reporting of anti-Semitic abuse on campus remains so low. The process is onerous, and university responses are consistently poor. When Jewish students avoid self-disclosure due to fear, it only compounds the problem. The sharing of experience, of truth and of culture prematurely truncates. Without the breaking of bread, bridges are not built and the status quo remains. It is thanks to AUJS that vigilance around anti-Semitism continues, complementing the Albanese government's banning of Nazi symbols. Self education at the Melbourne Holocaust Museum and being an upstander along with reform in universities, workplaces and sporting teams are the measures that will knit us closer, making us impervious to the forces of division.