ABC could be stripped of public funding as result of key recommendation by antisemitism envoy Jillian Segal
Ms Segal handed down a major report on Thursday, just one year after the well-known business executive was appointed as Australia's Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism.
The report outlines a series of measures needed in order to combat antisemitism, which it claimed had 'reached a tipping point that threatens social harmony, undermines trust in institutions and marginalises Jewish Australian citizens'.
Among the key recommendations are for the federal government to ensure cultural institutions – including public broadcasters – are not 'used to support or implicitly endorse antisemitic themes or narratives.'
'Culture shapes perception. Publicly funded institutions like arts festivals, galleries and public broadcasters must uphold antidiscrimination values and be accountable for the narratives they promote,' the report states.
To ensure this does not occur, the antisemitism envoy called on the federal government to draft funding agreements and enabling legislation to 'ensure that public funding can be readily terminated where organisations or individuals engage in or facilitate antisemitism'.
'Include terms in all public funding agreements with cultural institutions or festivals to allow for the efficient termination of funding where the institution or festival promotes, facilitates or does not deal effectively with hate or antisemitism,' the recommendation states.
If implemented, the recommendation could be used to strip public funding from the ABC, which has come under fire over its coverage of the growth of antisemitism and Israel's conflict with Hamas since the October 7 terrorist attacks.
In February, former ABC director Joe Gersh accused the public broadcaster of being 'part of the problem' when it came to the growth of antisemitism.
And in May, the ABC was forced to issue an embarrassing correction after it repeated an 'absurd' claim that thousands of babies were at risk of dying of starvation in Gaza over a 48-hour period.
The UN's Tom Fletcher had claimed during an interview with the BBC that '14,000 babies would be at risk of dying in Gaza within a 48-hour period due to starvation'.
The claim was picked by the ABC, despite the BBC shortly after the original report confirming the assertion overstated an IPC report which found there could be 14,100 cases of severe malnutrition of children up to the age of six months across a 12-month period, not 48 hours.
The ABC did not issue its own correction until Wednesday, May 28 – a full week after the BBC's correction.
The public broadcaster was then forced to issue an additional correction on June 4, after the same claim was broadcast on its Planet America program.
In the last month, the ABC has also apologised over its coverage of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla.
'A social media story on Instagram and Tik Tok on 9 June 2025 about the interception by the Israeli military of a boat carrying activists headed for Gaza included video posted by the Gaza Freedom Flotilla group,' the ABC's correction states.
'The video included an on-screen caption written by the group which identified the Israeli Defence Forces, IDF by the acronym, IOF (meaning Israel Occupation Forces)."
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese went out of his way to call out the ABC by name during his press conference announcing the antisemitism envoy's plan.
Asked whether he believed the anti-Israel protest movement was fuelling antisemitic attacks, Mr Albanese said protesters crossed the line when they targeted people because they were Jewish, before citing the ABC's coverage of the storming of a Jewish restaurant in Melbourne last Friday.
'I saw on the ABC the other night, a woman who participated in the trashing and violence that occurred at the restaurant in Melbourne, justifying that,' the Prime Minister said.
'There is no justification for that whatsoever. And what's more, the idea that somehow the cause of justice for Palestinians is advanced by behaviour like that is not only delusional, it is destructive and it is not consistent with how you are able to put forward your views respectfully in a democracy.'
The recommendation to enable governments to strip funding from cultural institutions could also impact higher education institutions, with Ms Segal's report stating that antisemitism was 'evident within schools and universities and has become ingrained and normalised within academia and the cultural space'.
Sydney University, in particular, has been the scene of major cases antisemitism in the past few years.
According to a preliminary report by SafeWork NSW, released under freedom of information laws in June, the university failed to take adequate actions to protect Jewish staff and students in the 11 months following Hamas' attacks on in 2023.
The report found harassment and intimidation of Jewish students and staff was commonplace at the university, with students forced to put up with antisemitic posters, banners, graffiti and flyers, as well as activists holding rallies and disrupting classes.
But Sydney University is far from the only higher education institution under fire for failing to address antisemitism.
In September last year a lecturer at Melbourne's RMIT told the Herald Sun they were threatened by a student after they removed a poster, adding they were 'genuinely scared for the first time in my life'.
RMIT also came under fire over an exhibition by visual arts academic Leslie Eastman, which included a symbol adopted by Hamas
The exhibit, titled 'The Cave, The Flood', uses a red LED floodlight and a wooden frame to depict an inverted red triangle – a symbol adopted by Hamas.
The Jewish Independent reported that a statement on the exhibit explained it explored the cave and rock beneath the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.
'The Cave, The Flood is a response to the complex history and meanings of this charged geological and spiritual pivot point, considering it from both religious and political perspectives. So much is clouded in Western reportage. So little of the context is appreciated by Western eyes,' the statement read.
Nationals Senate leader Bridget McKenzie backed the antisemitism envoy's report, describing it as a 'comprehensive and holistic report'
'It's been appalling to see our universities, some ofour media providers, public intellectuals, our arts community really target Australian Jewish community in the way they have,' Ms McKenzie said.
The ABC was contacted for comment.
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