Supporting genocide. Australian funds risk breaking international law.

Australian fund managers who continue to invest in companies supplying arms to Israel are likely to be in direct breach of international law and risk prosecution. Stephanie Tran with story.

Australia’s sovereign wealth fund may be complicit in genocide in Gaza if it continues to invest in companies supplying weapons and technology to Israel, leading international law experts say.

Former Australian Human Rights Commissioner Chris Sidoti said UN Commission of Inquiry into the Occupied Palestinian Territoriessaid MWM Both government and the private sector have clear obligations to avoid complicity in genocide.

“States like Australia and the private sector are now warning,” Sidoti said. “The UN Commission of Inquiry has identified war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of genocide, and they have responsibilities arising from this.”

Tim McCormack, Professor of International Law at the University of Tasmania and former Special Adviser on War Crimes to the International Criminal Court, said the government must face the legal consequences of its inaction.

“We need a government that is ready to say that we believe in the international legal order, and that means having to draw a line in the sand for us when we see serious violations of international law,” he said.

Future Fund complicity

Australia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Future Fund, continues to hold a stake in Elbit Systems despite extensive evidence that the Israeli arms manufacturer played a key role in the Israeli Armed Forces’ involvement in perpetrating genocide in Gaza. Israel’s largest arms manufacturer.

Future Fund invested in Elbit Systems, the Israeli company that dropped bombs on Palestinians

during a Senate Estimates hearing Last month, Future Fund CEO Raphael Arndt and Director of Corporate Affairs Will Heatherton were grilled about why the fund was still invested in Elbit, whose drones are believed to have been used in the Israeli attack that killed Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom.

Elbit Systems was added to the Fund’s exclusion list in 2018 for its production of cluster munitions, but was reinstated in April 2023 following what Heatherton described as a “due diligence, review and testing” process.

“Through our regular due diligence, review and testing process – as I have previously mentioned, every six months – it has been determined that in 2023 Elbit Systems is no longer involved in the activities that led to its removal from the portfolio and is therefore investable once again,” Heatherton said.

Elbit Systems risk

When pressed about concerns raised by several people UN reports Regarding Elbit Systems’ complicity in genocide, Heatherton stated that under the board’s policy there was “no reason to exclude the company on the basis of contracts and agreements approved by the Australian government.”

“In this particular case, Elbit is not subject to Australian or US sanctions and is not excluded under the exclusion framework adopted by the board,” he said.

Sidoti said the Fund’s position exposed deep flaws in the way it applied ethical and legal standards to its investments.

“If the statements of senior managers at the Future Fund are true, firstly, the board members need to be completely changed, and secondly, legislation must be changed to ensure that the Future Fund acts ethically and in accordance with international law.”

Sidoti cited the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund as an example of a fund that has aligned its investment strategy with its obligations under international law. The Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund banned investments in Elbit Systems in 2009 because it provided surveillance technology to Israeli forces in the West Bank. The fund also opened in August terminated All contracts with asset managers managing Israeli investments.

“If the largest fund in the world can act ethically and is concerned about acting ethically, why not a relatively small fund like ours? If the board cannot ensure that this happens, then the legislation needs to be changed. This is an institution that is part of the state and therefore carries responsibilities under international law for which the state bears much greater responsibilities than any private company,” Sidoti said.

Australia… “a very real risk”

Sidoti warned that the Australian government may be breaching its obligations under international law by failing to act following the International Court of Justice (ICJ). reigned He said it was “plausible” that Israel’s actions in Gaza could amount to genocide.

“The risk of Australia being in breach of its international legal obligations is very real. I’m certainly not saying we are in breach at this stage, but given what the Australian government has said and done in response to the situation in Gaza and the decisions the International Court of Justice has already made, I must say we are at a real risk of the court being in breach of international law.”

He said the government had failed to take even the most basic steps to ensure it was not aiding or aiding Israel’s illegal activities.

“I would expect Australia to undertake a comprehensive review of all aspects of its relationship with Israel… but I don’t know that such a comprehensive review has been carried out.”

“ [ICJ] We said that all states have an obligation not to aid or aid the continuation of Israel’s unlawful activities in the occupied Palestinian territories. The first step in not helping and not being helpful is knowing exactly what we are doing, aspects of the relationship, and what we need to stop. But this does not appear to have been done.”

Jerusalem defense and trade office

Sidoti also called for the immediate closure of Australia’s defense and trade office in Jerusalem, which supports cooperation with Israel’s arms industry.

“The fact that that office is still operating and promoting defense cooperation is nothing short of scandalous. It is absolutely scandalous that we are promoting defense cooperation between Australia and Israel under these circumstances,” he said.

Between March 2019 and June 2025, Austrade paid $218,115 to WeWork Israel To rent the building of the West Jerusalem Trade and Defense office. The lease was signed in July 2025. elongated Through December 2025 for another $26,185.

While the government maintains a ban on arms exports to Israel, Sidoti said the government’s ongoing defense contracts with Israeli arms manufacturers such as Elbit Systems finance the development of weapons and surveillance technology used against Palestinians.

“The Australian government has been hiding behind the fact that it has banned arms and ammunition exports to Israel for five years.”

“But when we buy drones or surveillance technology from Elbit, we are actually funding the research and development of the Israeli arms industry, particularly the development of surveillance technology used against the Palestinians. There is no excuse for any arms trade between Australia and Israel.”

McCormack, Australia’s participation Component supply for the F-35 stealth attack aircraft program It continues to include us in the atrocities committed in Gaza.

“We know that these planes were used to drop incredible amounts of munitions into Gaza,” he said.

Obligation to prevent genocide

Sidoti said Australia’s legal duty to prevent genocide was triggered in January 2024, following the ICJ. reigned The genocide in Gaza was ‘reasonable’. Under Genocide ConventionStates have an obligation not only to punish genocide after it has occurred, but also to actively prevent it. The ICJ decision invoked this obligation, requiring states to use all means reasonably at their disposal. prevent genocide from happening.

“The critical legal issue is the obligation to prevent genocide; this obligation does not depend on genocide actually occurring, but is triggered by a reasonable risk that genocide may occur,” he said. “The obligation to prevent is a real and existing obligation that has existed since January 2024 at the latest, but we appear to have done little in response to that obligation, and certainly almost nothing meaningful.”

In September, the UN Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territories found that: Israel committed genocide and continues to commit it In the Gaza Strip.

“Our UN Commission of Inquiry has been closely monitoring the situation in Palestine and Israel for four years, and for the last two years we have focused particularly on the situation in Gaza. … In a series of reports totaling eight reports, we found the crime of war crimes, crimes against humanity and most recently, based on our previous findings, the crime of genocide,” Sidoti said.

Chris Sidoti will be speaking at a series of public events organized by the Association for the Promotion of International Law in conjunction with Amnesty International, the ANU Faculty of Law and the International Commission of Jurists. He will be in Victoria on 19 November, Hobart on 20 November And Sydney on 27 November.

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Stephanie is a journalist with a passion for uncovering stories that will hold the power to account. With experience in both law and journalism, he worked at The Guardian and worked as a paralegal, where he assisted Crikey’s defense team in the high-profile libel case brought by Lachlan Murdoch. His reporting has been recognized nationally, earning him the 2021 Guardians of Democracy Award for Student Investigative Reporting and a nomination for the 2021 Walkley Student Journalist of the Year Award.