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New research conducted on behalf of the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) found that 52% of Australians felt less confident people of all faiths could live safely in the country following the Bondi Beach Hanukkah massacre.
30.5% of survey respondents said public attitudes toward Jewish Australians were negative, up 2.5 percentage points from 28% last year.
Further key findings included:
— 47% of Australians believed that local municipal councils should be doing more to combat hate directed against Jewish communities.
— 23% said racial or ethnic tensions in their local areas worsened in the past year, up 5 percentage points from 2025.
— 21% said local municipal councils were doing enough to combat religiously-motivated hate, a sharp decline from 40% a year ago.
— 16% said they had seen or heard of an antisemitic incident in their local area, up from 12.5% in 2025, a rise of 3.5 percentage points.
Read the full study HERE.
(Methodology note: Synesis Poll by Agenda C with Antenna Insights surveyed n=1,035 Australian voters aged 18+ online between July 21 and 24, 2026 for AC Synesis. Results were weighted by age, gender and location to the 2021 ABS Census. Margin of error is approximately ±3.1 per cent.)
This November, hundreds of mayors, councilors, senior council officers, faith leaders, and community figures from across Australia will gather in Bondi Beach for the Local Government Summit on Social Cohesion and Antisemitism –co-hosted by CAM and the Waverley Council, and supported by the New South Wales government.
The two-day program is built for practical action — expert briefings, hands-on workshops, and peer exchange that will see every council leave with an action plan for its own community and a national network of colleagues to call on.
The gathering will mark the first time all three tiers of Australian government will formally convene for a summit on antisemitism, and build on the inaugural Australian Mayors Summit Against Antisemitism held in Gold Coast last year.
CAM Public Affairs Advocate for Australia Sheina Gutnick, whose father Reuven Morrison was murdered in the Bondi attack, stated, “Although there has been a coordinated response from all levels of government in response to Bondi, local leaders need to step up and address the fraying feeling of safety in the community.”
“This is personal for me,” she added. “My father was killed because hatred was allowed to grow unchecked. I would rather spend this year working with councils to turn this moment into action, so that by the first anniversary, we can point to meaningful change.”
“Local councils are the front line of defense against all hate,” Gutnick emphasized. “We urge every mayor and councilor to speak out and step up — and to join our summit to learn how their peers around the world are tackling these rising threats.”
Waverley Mayor Will Nemesh said councils could not outsource social cohesion.
“As the level of government closest to the community, councils have an obligation to take meaningful and decisive action on challenging antisemitism and hate, and fostering stronger social cohesion,” he noted.
“The devastating terror attack at Bondi clearly highlighted the importance of local leadership,” Nemesh added. “When hate arrived on our doorstep, it was the local community and its council that stood up first and responded to the unprecedented and unimaginable challenge. But even before December 14th, our Council declared that ‘never again’ would be more than a motto, and instead a call to action to guide our steadfast efforts to stamp out antisemitism. Every council in Australia has the same responsibility and [the upcoming] summit is where we learn how.”
For additional information on this November’s Local Government Summit on Social Cohesion and Antisemitism in Bondi Beach, please visit: australia.combatantisemitism.org/2026
Read more:
At First Australian Mayoral Summit Against Antisemitism, Local Leaders Commit to Action Plans
