Australian synagogues have been forced to cancel services and divert funds in order to cover security costs, Jewish community representatives told the Royal Commission on Monday.
The fifth Hearing Block, which began on Monday, focuses on Jewish security concerns.
Counsel assisting Richard Lancaster told the commission that synagogues have canceled Friday night services because they “couldn’t afford to pay a guard, and felt that they could not discharge their duty of care to congregants without one.”
“The commission has received submissions from very many synagogues around Australia,” said Lancaster. “A constant theme is the organizational time, energy, and money that has to be committed to security.”
“This underscores the difficulty that members of the Jewish community presently face: if they close themselves off for security reasons, they may be unfairly criticized as deliberately insular, but without the barriers they wish they did not need, they may be left unduly exposed.”
Lancaster then said that this is a burden which no other religious community in the country has to contend with, just to attend school or a religious service.
Community Security Group warns of increased incidents since October 7
ACO, a senior figure from the Community Security Group (CSG) Victoria, told the commission of increased incident reports since October 7, and how volunteer hours have increased as a result.
ACO estimated that more than 113,700 hours were given by volunteer security guards and administrative staff in 2025.
“The pressure has been immense on all of our staff and volunteers,” ACO said.
Witness ACS, another CSG member, told the commission that being a security worker takes a psychological toll.
“I quite quickly became desensitized to the impact. And even to this day, I’ll see something that is objectively shocking, yet not have the visceral response that I should have.”
“Because we are adapting to that degrading environment, it’s much, much easier to overlook that growing burden on volunteers, on financial resources, and on the quality of Jewish way of life,” ACS said.
ACS said they have contributed approximately 8400 hours to CSG in the last five years, including 3500 documented volunteer hours and 1500 hours of unpaid work.
“Long term it’s not sustainable. It’s not sustainable for anyone to be working essentially two full-time jobs at once, especially given the risks associated with working Jewish communal security.”
Former Australian A-G urges government to restrict synagogue protests
Former attorney-general Mark Dreyfus urged the government to impose restrictions on protests outside synagogues, in line with the current imposition on protests around abortion clinics in Victoria.
“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,” he told the commission.
“Not to ban political protest, but rather to protect Jews,” he said, adding that protests are often “cover for some worse activity, for violence, for some actual physical threat to those places or people.”
