A new survey on university antisemitism alarming
A new survey reveals an alarming rise in antisemitism experienced by Jewish students and staff at Australian universities since the October 7 attacks.
Sydney University encampment (via Wikimedia)
The Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA) is deeply concerned following today’s release of a landmark survey by the Australian Academic Alliance Against Antisemitism.
The 5A survey, conducted among 548 Jewish respondents from 30 Australian universities, found disturbing evidence of antisemitic hostility, harassment, and exclusion. The report highlighted that:
-
Only 38% of Jewish students and 36% of Jewish staff feel safe on campus.
-
67% of respondents personally experienced antisemitic comments.
-
Almost half (45%) of students reported reduced class attendance due to feeling unsafe.
-
60% of respondents stated universities were not doing enough to combat antisemitism.
-
An overwhelming majority (84%) identified antisemitism primarily coming from the political left.
The findings reflect a further deterioration since the ZFA’s 2023 “Jewish Student Experience of Antisemitism Survey,” undertaken by the Social Research Centre, which reported that 64% of Jewish university students experienced antisemitism, with 88% of these incidents occurring within the previous 12 months.
ZFA President, Jeremy Leibler, said the findings underscored the urgent need for universities to act decisively, “this latest survey reinforces what we’ve been hearing from students for too long: antisemitism is not isolated, it’s systemic. The deterioration in safety and rise in antisemitic incidents after the October 7 attacks is deeply troubling and unacceptable. University leaders must confront this issue head-on and take immediate, meaningful action to address antisemitism.
What we saw recently at the Queensland University of Technology, where well-known antisemitic extremists were platformed and allowed to disseminate speech that incited hatred of Jewish Australians, is another troubling reflection of how deep-rooted the failures to address antisemitism are at Australian universities.”
CEO of the ZFA, Alon Cassuto, said: “The survey’s findings reveal not only a crisis for Jewish students and staff, but also represents a profound failure by Australian universities to uphold the fundamental values of diversity, inclusion, and safety. The data before and after October 7 clearly demonstrates that antisemitism is a longstanding and worsening issue on Australian campuses.”
ZFA
