Australian shuls cancel Friday night services and divert funds to cover security
Royal Commission this week investigates safety provision for synagogues, schools and other community organisations
Synagogues across Australia are being forced to cancel services and divert funds to cover security costs, Jewish leaders have told the country’s Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion.
The commission, established after gunmen opened fire at a Bondi Beach Chanukah celebration in December 2025, murdering 15 people and wounding 40, has held five primary hearing blocks, investigating antisemitism and counter-terrorism responses.
According to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, there were 2,062 antisemitic incidents in the year after 7 October 2023, a fivefold increase from the year before.
Hearing Block 5, held in Melbourne between Monday 20 July and Friday 24 July, is focused on security for the Australian Jewish community. It will continue on Monday 27 in Sydney.
Senior Counsel assisting the enquiry, Richard Lancaster has revealed that synagogues have cancelled Friday night services because they “couldn’t afford to pay a guard, and felt that they could not discharge their duty of care to congregants without one.”
He added: “The commission has received submissions from very many synagogues around Australia. A constant theme is the organisational time, energy and money that has to be committed to security.”
An anonymous witness referred to as “ACO” estimated that volunteer security guards and administrative staff have devoted 113,700 hours to community protection in 2025, adding that the numbers were likely “substantially underestimated” and some volunteers were also on call to be available at short notice.
Another witness, “ACR”, a volunteer for Jewish security organisation CSG Victoria, said that safeguarding Jewish life in Australia has become “a second life”.
According to the Royal Commission, Hearing Block 1 (4–15 May, Sydney), focused on defining antisemitism, its historical and contemporary manifestations, and the lived experiences of Jewish Australians; Hearing Block 2 (25 May, Sydney) investigated the December 2025 terror attack at Bondi Beach, including the intelligence and law enforcement response, resourcing, and security at Jewish community events; Hearing Block 3 (29 June–10 July, Sydney) examined the dissemination of antisemitic content and hateful speech in online environments, as well as antisemitism in traditional media and broadcasting; Hearing Block 4 (13–17 July, Melbourne) concentrated on antisemitism within Australian universities, exploring the lived experiences of Jewish students and academics and the responses of the education sector.
During the hearings, Australia’s former Attorney General Mark Dreyfus, whose great-grandparents were murdered in the Holocaust, reported being called a “genocidal Zionist” in a Melbourne street, and described how his office was vandalised with red paint.
The Royal Commissioner is required to produce a final report by December.
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