Public Hearing Block 2

ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess told the Royal Commission that while the agency shifted resources towards foreign interference and espionage from 2022, counter-terrorism capabilities were not left under-resourced. He said the security environment changed dramatically following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks, with ASIO observing an immediate rise in antisemitic behaviour that escalated from threats and intimidation to direct attacks on Jewish people, businesses and places of worship. Burgess said these developments contributed to Australia's terrorism threat level being raised to “probable” in August 2024, alongside a broader increase in politically motivated violence across a range of extremist ideologies.

Burgess said ASIO intensified its engagement with the Jewish community following October 7 and has continued to devote resources to addressing antisemitism-related security threats. He confirmed that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was behind attacks including the Adass Israel Synagogue arson through the use of proxies and agents, and warned that Australia remains in a heightened threat environment where lone-actor attacks can emerge with little warning. Despite growing pressure from both terrorism and foreign interference threats, Burgess maintained ASIO had sufficient resources and was not knowingly leaving serious security matters untreated.

Senior Australian Federal Police officer Stephen Nutt told the Royal Commission that the October 7 Hamas attacks fundamentally changed Australia's national security environment and prompted growing concerns that rising antisemitism could escalate into acts of terrorism. He said authorities observed an increase in violent protests, antisemitic chants and the public display of symbols associated with terrorist organisations, leading antisemitism to become a strategic priority for the AFP.

Nutt said the AFP established Operation Avalite following the Adass Israel Synagogue arson attack in December 2024 and created a national antisemitism coordination group to strengthen intelligence sharing and law enforcement responses across jurisdictions. While investigators later determined the January 2025 Dural caravan incident was a fabricated terror plot, he acknowledged it had a significant psychological impact on the Jewish community. Nutt told the Commission there remains an enduring threat to Jewish Australians, with authorities continuing to monitor and respond to antisemitism as part of Australia's broader national security and counter-terrorism framework.

NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Leanne McCusker told the Royal Commission that while regular intelligence briefings on threats to Jewish interests were produced in the immediate aftermath of October 7, 2023, they ceased after December that year as information was instead managed through Operation Shelter and other intelligence channels. She acknowledged that, with hindsight, a specific threat assessment could and should have been considered for the Chanukah by the Sea event at Bondi in December 2025, noting such assessments help inform police resourcing and operational planning.

McCusker's evidence also highlighted the sharp rise in antisemitic incidents across New South Wales since October 7, with hate crimes against Jewish victims increasing from 43 incidents in the third quarter of 2023 to 231 in the fourth quarter, before reaching 841 incidents in 2025. She said the increase was clearly linked to the aftermath of the Hamas attacks and reflected a continuing and concerning threat environment. In response, NSW Police established several dedicated operations, including Operation Shelter, Strike Force Pearl and Operation Reassurance, with Strike Force Pearl alone resulting in 22 offenders being charged with 178 offences related to serious antisemitic crimes.

Witness ABO, a representative of the Community Security Group (CSG) NSW, told the Royal Commission that cooperation between the Jewish community, NSW Police and ASIO increased significantly following October 7, 2023, describing both agencies as highly responsive and committed to protecting the community. Witness ABO outlined extensive engagement with authorities, including regular threat briefings and intelligence sharing, and revealed that CSG had warned NSW Police ahead of the 2025 Chanukah by the Sea event that the threat of a terrorist attack against the Jewish community was considered "likely". The assessment identified the event as a major concern and prompted a request for a continuous police presence throughout its duration.

Witness ABO also told the Commission that CSG deployed 12 volunteers to the event and that security costs for the NSW Jewish community have risen sharply in response to the heightened threat environment, with commercial guarding expenses expected to reach approximately $12.5 million in 2026. The evidence highlighted the growing security burden facing the community and its increasing reliance on both volunteer and commercial security arrangements to protect Jewish sites and events.

Witness ABP, a senior CSG NSW staff member, told the Royal Commission that the organisation specifically sought a continuous police presence at the Chanukah by the Sea event in the days before the December 2025 terrorist attack, citing the heightened threat environment, the open-air nature of the event and the inability of CSG personnel to be armed. The witness said CSG contacted the Eastern Suburbs Police Area Commander on 8 December and later spoke with the Operations Inspector, who advised that NSW Police did not believe a static police presence was required based on its internal risk assessment.

Witness ABP said CSG expressed concern that mobile police patrols would not provide the same level of reassurance or protection for attendees, arguing that a permanent on-site presence was necessary given the anticipated crowd size and security risks. The witness told the Commission that, from CSG's perspective, intermittent police taskings were an inadequate substitute because officers could attend and leave without any certainty around frequency or duration.