Dear friends and supporters,
We’re writing with an important update on our campaign to stop the adoption of a dangerous definition of antisemitism across Australian universities.
Since launching this campaign, we’ve written to all 39 Universities, and have been meeting with Vice Chancellors around Australia, Universities Australia (UA), TEQSA, the National Student Ombudsman, and other key players. We know you have all been writing, calling and meeting too. Thanks to all of our actions and continued pressure, the campaign is working.
As reported in the Guardian today, so far, very few universities have adopted the definition into policy. Some have rejected it outright, and many others are delaying or wavering — a sign that our emails, meetings and advocacy is making a real impact.
Universities Australia asked the national universities regulator TEQSA to consider incorporating the definition into regulation. In response to our pressure and public scrutiny, TEQSA has said it will not direct universities on this issue. It has clarified:
“Universities Australia, and its member universities, make their own decisions in relation to their policies and procedures, including definitions.”
A quick recap – what is this campaign about?
Earlier this year Universities Australia and the Group of Eight (Go8) endorsed a new, controversial definition of antisemitism.
This definition conflates criticism of Israel and Zionism with antisemitism and aims to chill political expressions in support of Palestine, undermine academic freedom, and institutionalise anti-Palestinian racism.
The Jewish Council of Australia strongly opposes this definition — as do many university staff, students, and alumni who have joined the campaign
Your actions are making a difference
It’s been so heartening to hear about students meeting directly with their Vice-Chancellors and new coalitions being formed to win over Academic Boards. These conversations are having an impact and showing university leaders that there is broad, principled opposition to this political manoeuvre — from Palestinian voices, from Jewish students and staff, and from the wider community.
A concerning new development
While our original campaign focused on stopping the Universities Australia / Go8 definition, there’s a separate but related issue:
The newly established National Student Ombudsman — an independent body set up to handle student complaints — has quietly adopted the IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) definition of antisemitism.
The IHRA definition, like the UA/Go8 one, is widely criticised, including by leading human rights groups, for conflating antisemitism with criticism of Israel. Its adoption by a complaints body could discourage students from speaking out about Palestine — or from lodging complaints about censorship, discrimination, or repression on campus.
📩 We’re urging people to write politely to the Ombudsman to express their concern and ask that they publicly repudiate the IHRA definition: media@ombudsman.gov.au
What you can do next
We’ve made real progress. But to ensure this dangerous attempt to chill Palestine activism doesn’t gain traction, we need to keep up the pressure.
✅ Keep writing to your university (as staff, student or alumni), and get engaged through your student or staff union. List of Vice-Chancellor emails here
✅ Email the National Student Ombudsman today:
media@ombudsman.gov.au
✅ Stay engaged with the People’s Inquiry into Campus Free Speech on Palestine, which is documenting repression across Australian universities.
Together, we can defend academic freedom, oppose anti-Palestinian racism, and ensure universities can be places of open debate and critical thought.
In solidarity,
The Jewish Council of Australia