On the 18 December 2025, the Prime Minister, the Honourable Anthony Albanese MP, announced the establishment of a 12-month Antisemitism Education Taskforce, to be chaired by David Gonski AC.
The Taskforce forms part of the Australian Government’s response to the Special Envoy’s Plan to Combat Antisemitism. It will consider actions to help the Australian education system prevent, tackle and properly respond to antisemitism.
Need support or someone to talk to?
Support is available through the following services.
Taskforce Purpose
The purpose of the Taskforce is to help the Australian education system prevent, tackle and properly respond to antisemitism.
In undertaking its work, the Taskforce will drive the implementation of other education measures announced as part of the Australian Government’s response to the Special Envoy’s Plan to Combat Antisemitism and provide advice on any further measures required to address antisemitism and promote an inclusive Australia.
The Taskforce will consider action across all levels of Australia’s education system – from early childhood education and care, to schools, and across universities and the higher education sectors, which is reflected in the Taskforce membership.
The Taskforce will, as appropriate, consult with the Australian Jewish community, young people, students and their parents and carers, the education system workforce and other stakeholders.
Taskforce Membership
- David Gonski AC (Chair)
- Jillian Segal AO, Australia’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism
- Australian Government Department of Education
- State and Territory Departments of Education
- Independent Schools Australia
- National Catholic Education Commission
- Australian Council of Jewish Schools
- Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority
- Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership
- The Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority
- The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency
- Universities Australia
- The interim Australian Tertiary Education Commission
The Taskforce will be supported by a secretariat from the Australian Government Department of Education, which can be contacted via AntisemitismEducationTaskforce@education.gov.au
Taskforce Meetings
Meeting 1 – 19 December 2025
The first meeting of the Antisemitism Education Taskforce (the Taskforce) was held today in Sydney following the evil act of terrorism and antisemitism perpetrated on 14 December 2025. The Chair David Gonski AC, Australia’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism Jillian Segal AO and the Hon Jason Clare MP, Minister for Education reiterated their support for Australia’s Jewish community and that antisemitism has no place in Australian society.
Minister Clare; Senator the Hon Jess Walsh, Minister for Early Childhood Education; the Hon Julian Hill MP, Assistant Minister for International Education; and the Acting NSW Minister for Education and Early Learning, the Hon Courtney Houssos MLC attended the inaugural meeting as guests.
The Taskforce noted the important role that early childhood education and care, schools and university sectors have in shaping Australian values. The Taskforce discussed its overarching purpose to provide advice on how the Australian education system can help to prevent, tackle and properly respond to antisemitism.
In undertaking its work, the Taskforce will drive the implementation of measures announced as part of the Australian Government’s response to the Special Envoy’s Plan to Combat Antisemitism and provide advice on any further measures required for the education system to help tackle, respond and prevent antisemitism.
The Taskforce agreed to the following immediate actions:
- Tasking ACARA and ACECQA to provide advice on a targeted review of the Australian Curriculum and Early Years Framework to combat antisemitism
- ACECQA, ACARA, AITSL and Education Services Australia (ESA) to scope additional educational resources and teacher professional learning to combat antisemitism
- Special Envoy to brief the next meeting of the Taskforce on the UNESCO training program for teachers and school leaders to prevent and counter antisemitism
- Special Envoy and Emeritus Professor Greg Craven AO GCSG to brief the next meeting of the Taskforce on the progress of the University Report Card Project
- TEQSA and the Department of Education to provide updates on the changes needed to TEQSA legislation to strengthen powers to address antisemitism and all forms of racism on university campuses
The Taskforce will next meet on the 3 February 2026 to be updated on these initial streams of work and brief all Education Ministers at the end of February.
Antisemitism Education Taskforce - Membership
- David Gonski AC (Chair)
- Australia’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism
- Australian Government Department of Education
- State and Territory Departments of Education
- Independent Schools Australia
- National Catholic Education Commission
- Australian Council of Jewish Schools
- Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA)
- Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL)
- The Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA)
- The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA)
- Universities Australia
- The interim Australian Tertiary Education Commission
Meeting 2 – 3 February 2026
The second meeting of the Antisemitism Education Taskforce (the Taskforce) was held on 3 February 2026 in Sydney. The Chair, David Gonski AC, Australia's Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism Jillian Segal AO and members reiterated their support for Australia's Jewish community and the importance of working to remove all forms of antisemitism and hate from Australian education and training systems and settings. Given its importance, the Taskforce resolved to meet monthly to maintain rapid momentum on the Taskforce’s work.
The Taskforce welcomed two new members, Ms Saxon Rice, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Australian Skills Quality Authority and Ms Jenny Dodd, CEO of TAFE Directors Australia. Representation from the vocational education and training sector ensures the Taskforce has full coverage of the whole education and training lifecycle widening its potential impact in combatting hate and promoting social cohesion.
The Taskforce noted the establishment of the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion and statements by the Prime Minister the Hon Anthony Albanese MP and Minister for Education the Hon Jason Clare MP that the work of the Taskforce will continue.
Members agreed the Taskforce provided an opportunity to effect change by being focused on delivering real outcomes for students, parents and educators. Already, significant progress is being made on the initial ideas and priorities. The Taskforce:
- Endorsed the approach to the Focused Review of the Australian Curriculum and agreed to seek formal approval from Education Ministers at the next Education Ministers Meeting on 20 February.
- Endorsed the proposed online Social Cohesion Hub of resources for early childhood educators, teachers and parents with the first phase focused on antisemitism to be delivered by June 2026. The Taskforce agreed the hub will be publicly available with material in multiple languages.
- Noted trials of the Special Envoy’s UNESCO training program have commenced and the Special Envoy’s National Dialogue will be co-hosted with UNESCO on 17 March 2026.
- Heard progress on the first tranche of the Special Envoy’s University Report Card project and noted the first report cards are expected by May 2026.
- Discussed the progress in developing proposed amendments to higher education regulation to strengthen regulatory responses by TEQSA.
Ahead of O-Week, TEQSA confirmed that it is writing to the Vice-Chancellors of all of Australia’s universities reminding them of the need to ensure students safety and wellbeing and encouraging stronger responses to any instances of antisemitism and hate.
The Taskforce will next meet in early March 2026 to continue to progress priorities.
It is also seeking ideas for combatting and preventing antisemitism and hate in educational settings to strengthen social cohesion. The Chair has asked the Taskforce members to bring forward practical ideas which are implementable, outcome focused and can be fully worked up.