Mark Dreyfus proposes protest laws to protect Australians Jewish schools and synagogues
Former attorney general Mark Dreyfus said Australia should consider banning protests outside synagogues and Jewish schools by introducing laws similar to those that apply to abortion clinics.
appeared before Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion Australia’s Jewish community has been under “constant threat” since October 7, 2023, a federal MP said on Monday as part of hearings on security measures.
Dreyfus said Jewish schools were now “hardening” the exteriors of their buildings because of threats against them, and told the commission it should consider proposing new laws “similar to restrictions on protest activity around abortion clinics” as part of its final report.
“No other religious group in Australia has to pass guards on their way to worship. The Jewish community does this in response to a real and assessed risk. No one wants this, but it was necessary and unfortunately continues to be necessary,” Dreyfus said.
Speaking of personal encounters with antisemitism, the member for Isaacs told Commissioner Virginia Bell that in 2024 a man approached him on the street and said: “You are a genocidal Zionist, you should be ashamed of yourself.”
“I have never been subjected to this kind of abuse,” Dreyfus said. “No one harassed me because I was Jewish.”
About a month later, his election office in Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs was vandalized with signs reading “Who does Attorney General Dreyfus serve?” There were signs saying:
“It evokes all those old anti-Semitic tropes about dual loyalty and betrayal to Australia, and they’re all wrong. This is a deeply hurtful attack.”
Dreyfus also said that he was called a “kapo” (referring to Jews who collaborated with concentration camp guards during the Holocaust) on social media by Australian Jews. He said he believed this was due to restrictions on what he could say publicly due to cabinet solidarity.
“I found the attacks of some Australian Jews particularly difficult and painful,” Dreyfus said.
Dreyfus, who served as federal first law officer from 2022 to 2025, also told the commission that Australia should reconsider legislative changes to strengthen hate speech laws, create a national gun register and introduce new restrictions on social media; This includes the right for Australians to sue social media companies for apparent abuse on their platforms, without risking paying costs.
“Australia can provide guidance on legislative rules here… and create an enforceable duty on social media platforms,” Dreyfus said.
Noting the enormous wealth of social media companies compared to the relatively small budget of the E-Safety commission, Dreyfus said that “the private right of action could help implement this digital mandate.”
“This is something that puts the cost on social media platforms at an early stage and says you’re going to pay the full cost of this… this can’t just be left to the safety commissioner,” he said.
Instead of individuals suing for damages, the law could require social media companies to remove offensive comments, Dreyfus said.
Counsel assisting the commission, Richard Lancaster, SC, opened the commission’s fifth block of hearings on Monday, saying synagogues had been forced to cancel events and services and observed that “Jewish communal life has been diminished” by ongoing security issues, including “shouting individuals waiting near the synagogue door and insulting those in attendance”.
He also quoted a school principal as saying that students took exams with “20 percent of their brains turned off” because they were so preoccupied with security measures.
This is “bandwidth that should be directed to combating the effects of anti-Semitism and the physical measures that will be taken as a result,” said Lancaster.
“That principal and others are right to say that no Australian community should face these conditions.”
Lancaster said this block of hearings would include four categories of evidence: the experiences of Australian Jews in these circumstances, government funding for security, the role of the police and the role of Jewish community safety groups.
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Michael Bachelard is The Age’s senior writer and former deputy editor and research editor. He has worked in Canberra, Melbourne and Jakarta, written two books and won several awards for journalism, including the Gold Walkley.Connect with: X or email.
