On the 18 July 2026, the Prime Minister, the Honourable Anthony Albanese MP, announced the establishment of a 12-month Islamophobia Education Taskforce.
The Taskforce forms part of the Australian Government’s response to the Special Envoy’s Plan to Combat Islamophobia. It will consider actions to help the Australian education system prevent, tackle and properly respond to Islamophobia.
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Taskforce Purpose
The purpose of the Taskforce is to help the Australian education system prevent, tackle, and properly respond to Islamophobia, and to contribute to existing efforts to strengthen social cohesion through education.
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.
In undertaking its work, the Taskforce will oversee rapid implementation of education-related measures identified in the Australian Government’s response to the Special Envoy to Combat Islamophobia’s report, and identify further measures to combat Islamophobia in education settings. This includes:
- a focused review of the Australian Curriculum to identify opportunities to strengthen racial and religious tolerance, ensuring that students can develop the knowledge and capabilities required to support a cohesive, inclusive and respectful society. The focused review will examine all forms of hatred, including islamophobia.
- development and delivery of a Social Cohesion Framework for Schools that delivers practical, evidence‑based guidance to support inclusive, safe and respectful learning environments and to prevent and respond to Islamophobia, faith‑based discrimination, racism and other forms of discrimination.
- development of a national, consistent framework for anti-racism in universities, aligned with the National Anti-Racism Framework. This may include the development of specific guidelines to combat Islamophobia that address incidents of Islamophobia explicitly, outlining prevention strategies, response protocols, educational initiatives and support services for affected individuals, including staff.
The Taskforce will, as appropriate, consult with the Australian Muslim community, young people, students and their parents and carers, the education system workforce and other stakeholders.
The Taskforce will be supported by a secretariat from the Australian Government Department of Education, which can be contacted via IslamophobiaEducationTaskforce@education.gov.au.