Australia’s education minister has confirmed the federal government will defer its response to controversial antisemitism proposals for universities until it receives two other key reports. Jason Clare said the government wanted to ‘tackle racism in whatever form it comes’ and would wait for a broader review of racism at universities and a separate report from the Islamophobia envoy.
The antisemitism envoy Jillian Segal’s plan, released last week, recommends a ‘university report card’ and withholding government funding from institutions that fail to act against antisemitism. It also proposes terminating public grants for academics or researchers who engage in hate speech. While peak Jewish groups backed the measures as ‘urgently needed’, some academics and human rights groups fear they could stifle free speech.
Clare noted that racism exists at universities ‘in all its ugly forms’, including antisemitism, Islamophobia and discrimination against Indigenous students. He said the government will consider the Islamophobia envoy’s report in August and the Australian Human Rights Commission’s racism review in December before finalising its response. The broader review was launched in May 2024 following an alarming rise in antisemitism on campuses.
Labor MP Ed Husic raised concerns about the plan’s recommendation to adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism, warning it could conflate antisemitism with criticism of Israel. ‘It’s not antisemitic to criticise the actions of the government of Israel,’ he said. Meanwhile, the Coalition has endorsed Segal’s proposals, but government sources have downplayed the prospect of terminating university funding.
