People stand near flowers laid as a tribute at Bondi Beach to honor the victims of a mass shooting that targeted a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach on Sunday, in Sydney, Australia, Dec. 16, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Flavio Brancaleone

The room has gone silent.

After months of testimony, the public hearings at the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion are over. 

But the voices of those who spoke before it will remain.

The Commission was established to investigate what went wrong in Australian society, after a Jewish community event celebrating Hanukkah on Bondi Beach was attacked by Islamist terrorists on Dec. 14, 2025, leaving 15 innocent people dead, and to try to prevent it from ever happening again.

Those moments of horror, when the iconic setting of Bondi Beach was transformed into a nightmare, will remain etched in the memory of Australian Jews forever.

During the public hearings, there was harrowing testimony from ordinary Australian Jews, as well as non-Jews, who gave voice to the horrendous experiences many Jews have endured since the Oct. 7 massacre in 2023. 

Australian Jews were invited to submit their experiences to the Commission after what has been one of the most difficult periods in living memory for the small but proud Australian Jewish community.

More than 20,000 written submissions were received. Many reflected profound heartache and fear, anger and anxiety, and a genuine concern for the future.

Adding to this anxiety was a government that had broken many elements of longstanding bipartisan support for Israel. In September last year, on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, it recognized a Palestinian state before the reforms demanded of the Palestinian Authority had even been implemented. It had also dramatically shifted its voting patterns at the UN to supporting resolutions targeting Israel. And it has repeatedly criticized Israel’s conduct in its wars against Hamas and Hezbollah, terrorist organizations committed to Israel’s destruction.

It had also presided over a period in which antisemitism reached record levels, leaving many Australian Jews questioning whether this government understood the seriousness of what was occurring.

The findings and recommendations that the Commission will unveil on Dec. 18, when it delivers its final report, will hopefully answer some of those difficult questions and address where accountability lies.

But away from the legalities and procedural bureaucracy of the Commission, there is something else it has already achieved.

This Commission will not solve antisemitism. Jew-hatred has existed for a very long time, and a Royal Commission, while well-intentioned, will not change that.

Just last month, an Australian Jewish family was abused at Melbourne International Airport when a woman approached them, calling them “Zionist Nazis” and “baby killers,” causing their 11-year-old daughter to burst into tears.

Since Oct. 7, the father had already instructed his children to conceal their Jewish identity when attending non-Jewish events such as football matches.

Think about that. In Australia today, a Jewish father felt the need to instruct his children to hide their Jewish identity for their own safety.

So, while the Commission cannot stop that kind of hatred, it did achieve something else – something that has been sorely lacking for so long. It gave ordinary Australian Jews a voice.

Over the last few years, we have seen endless debates and arguments about what antisemitism is and what it isn’t. We have been told that demonstrations on our city streets were not really about Jews. That the intimidation many Jews felt wasn’t really intimidation. And of course, that hostility toward “Zionists” had nothing to do with Jews.

It seemed everyone was an expert on Jews – except Jews! 

And yet it was Jews who were intimidated, Jews who hid their symbols, Jews made to feel unsafe, and Jewish businesses and religious institutions that were attacked.

Again. And again. And again. 

The Royal Commission became the place where those voices, so often drowned out in the cacophony of street protests and anti-Israel rhetoric, could be heard.

And now they are recorded – part of Australia’s national record of what Australian Jews experienced during one of the most difficult periods in our community’s living memory.

Witness after witness spoke, describing deeply personal experiences in their own words.

They spoke of their fears and their hopes for the future – not just for our Jewish community, but for the Australian community as well. After all, generations of Australian Jews have devoted their energy and their lives to building this great nation.

But the fight against this age-old hatred of antisemitism doesn’t just belong to governments and Royal Commissions. It belongs to all of us.

And one of the strongest weapons we have is our voice. The Royal Commission has given us our voice. We cannot guarantee it will be listened to, but we can ensure it will be heard.

Justin Amler is a policy analyst at the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC).