Special Envoy welcomes recommendations of the Group of Eight Expert Advisory Committee on Combatting Antisemitism
Australia’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism, Jillian Segal AO, has welcomed the recommendations of the Group of Eight Expert Advisory Committee on Combatting Antisemitism, chaired by Dr Alan Finkel AC, which was delivered to the Group of Eight this month.
The Special Envoy said the Committee’s 21 recommendations — spanning the adoption of a definition of antisemitism as well as operationalising it through codes of conduct and relevant policies, complaints handling, policy amendment,, protest management, education and training, social media and university leadership — largely align with the report card process she established more than a year ago and first referenced in her national plan. That process called on Australia’s universities to adopt a clear and consistent definition of antisemitism, embed it in their policies including codes of conduct and complaints processes, and put in place the mechanisms needed to keep Jewish Australian students and staff safe.
Ms Segal particularly welcomed the report’s recognition that education and training must extend to university staff and academics as well as students, its focus on the responsibilities of university leadership, and its attention to the role of social media. She said the test now is not the design of the recommendations but their genuine and full implementation across campuses.
“I broadly welcome the recommendations of the Expert Advisory Committees’ report to the Group of Eight. The recommendations largely align with the report card process I established over a year ago. I now look to the Group of Eight to act on them in good faith and without delay, building on the work already underway.”
— Jillian Segal AO, Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism
The Special Envoy said she stood ready to work with the Group of Eight and the wider university sector to help deliver on the recommendations as a priority, and would continue to engage university leaders, students and independent experts — in Australia and overseas —to support that work.