Student ombudsman to focus on university antisemitism
The federal government is to establish a student ombudsman to investigate antisemitism in the nation’s universities.
Jason Clare Photo: “X”
Federal Education Minister Jason Clare told Sky News: “This week I’ll introduce legislation into the Parliament to establish a National Student Ombudsman that’ll have the power to launch its own investigations, but also take complaints from students about antisemitism or any other complaint they wish to make about their experience at university.”
The executive director of the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council, Dr Colin Rubenstein, said: “AIJAC has welcomed the announcement. There has long been a serious problem of antisemitism on university campuses, and it has markedly increased since October 7 last year, so it is pleasing that Minister Clare has shown by his comments that he recognises and intends to combat this problem.
We welcome the potential appointment of a National Student Ombudsman and Minister Clare announcing that he has urged university vice-chancellors to enforce their codes of conduct and asked the university regulator, the TEQSA, to arrange for universities to meet with Antisemitism Envoy Jillian Segal to discuss what they are doing to combat the problem.
“However, this should be considered no more than a good start,” Dr Rubenstein continued. “We appreciate that the Ombudsman is intended to have far-reaching powers of investigation, but the role will also have a very broad remit. We still strongly support the establishment of a judicial inquiry into campus antisemitism, as stated in our submission to the Senate Committee investigating the proposed legislation. Such an inquiry, dedicated solely to the issue of antisemitism, and with the powers of a royal commission, is the only way to come to grips with the full extent of the problem, and to remedy it. It is simply unacceptable that Jewish students and staff feel unsafe on campus,” Dr Rubenstein concluded.
