Former attorney general Mark Dreyfus has urged Australian governments to consider banning protests outside synagogues and Jewish schools, drawing parallels to safe access zone laws upheld by the High Court for abortion clinics. Testifying before the antisemitism royal commission in Melbourne on Monday, the federal Labor backbencher cited a 2019 High Court decision that upheld Victoria and Tasmania's laws prohibiting protests within 150 metres of abortion clinics.
High court precedent for protest restrictions
Dreyfus argued that similar restrictions could protect Jewish Australians from distress and anxiety. 'The High Court said that kind of law directed at reducing distress and anxiety to Australians who need to attend an abortion clinic is within the constraints of the implied freedom of political communication,' he said. 'It’s time to consider whether we need some similar restriction on protest activity outside synagogues, on protest activity outside schools and Jewish places of gathering, not to ban political protest … but rather to protect … Jewish Australians.'
Last year, New South Wales reintroduced laws restricting protests that block or threaten access to places of worship, after earlier legislation was struck down by the state's supreme court.
Security threats and community burden
The royal commission's fifth block of hearings is examining security arrangements for the Jewish community, including the role of the Jewish Community Security Group (CSG) and their coordination with law enforcement. Counsel assisting Richard Lancaster SC said evidence would show 'a substantial and ongoing threat to the safety and security of the Jewish community in Australia,' leading to a 'shrinking of Jewish communal life' due to the financial burden of security guards.
Dreyfus, who is Jewish, told the commission that after Hamas's 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, he was shocked by the 'breach of that sense of safety' created by providing asylum to Jewish refugees, including his father who arrived from Nazi Germany in 1939. He said his former role as a cabinet member in the Albanese government's first term put him in a 'unique position,' resulting in 'particularly difficult and painful' criticism from some Jewish Australians. Since leaving cabinet after the 2025 federal election, he said he has been 'much freer as an MP.'
Call for vilification laws and digital duty of care
Dreyfus urged the commonwealth government to introduce a criminal offence for vilification, following NSW and Victoria, and a 'private right of action' under the proposed digital duty of care to allow takedown of online abuse. 'It can’t just be left to the eSafety commissioner,' he said. He recounted an incident in April 2024 when a man outside Victoria's state library told him: 'You are a genocidal Zionist. You should be ashamed of yourself.' Dreyfus said, 'No one had ever hurled abuse at me because I am Jewish. This was a new development in my engagement in Australian politics, and I know I’m not alone.'
CSG witnesses describe unsustainable burden
The commission heard from members of state-based CSGs, volunteer-led organisations monitoring threats and providing security. A senior Victorian CSG member said protection requirements had nearly doubled since October 2023, but staffing remained insufficient. While government grants helped, funding was not adequate, with most coming from community donations. 'There shouldn’t be this financial burden on being Jewish today, and I don’t see how this is sustainable, nor do I see why it should be sustainable,' they said.
Another CSG witness, using the pseudonym ACR, described being 'always on call' and discouraging family from attending Jewish community events. 'I don’t want to put myself in a position where I would have to decide between extracting them or dealing with a threat if something arose, and so that’s incredibly difficult.'
The commission also heard from a staff member preparing annual reports on antisemitic incidents. The 2025 report, yet to be released, includes 1,276 incidents, a 22% increase from the previous year and the highest ever recorded. They noted a rise in incidents at schools and synagogues, including those targeting schoolchildren, 'wasn’t a trend that was seen previously.'
