The Royal Commission into Antisemitism has handed down its interim report into the Bondi Beach terror attack.
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It comes after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese refused to call the national inquiry for 25 days after the December 14 attack.
Royal Commissioner Virginia Bell delivered the interim report, containing 14 recommendations, to Governor General Sam Mostyn on Thursday.
Read the full interim report here
The recommendations included:
The procedures adopted by NSW Police in respect of Operation Jewish High Holy Days should apply to other high risk Jewish festivals and events, particularly those that have a public facing element.
Having regard to the significance of the role of the Commonwealth Counter-Terrorism Coordinator in providing counter-terrorism leadership, the Commission recommends consideration be given to making the Counter-Terrorism Coordinator’s role full-time.
If the (Australia New Zealand Counter-Terrorism Committee) ANZCTC is to be used again as a crisis committee, the ANZCTC should be included in the Australian Government Crisis Management Framework so its role is clear.
The Counter-Terrorism Handbook should be updated promptly and then at least every three years in coordination with updates to the Counter-Terrorism Plan and the ANZCTC triennial review.
The ANZCTC should provide direct advice in the form of a written and/or oral briefing, at least annually, to National Cabinet (including, as appropriate, advice on ANZCTC activities, the use of the ANZCTC Special Fund, and national counter-terrorism challenges and priorities).
The ANZCTC should commission a review of the Joint Counter-Terrorism Teams, with a report to be submitted to Police Commissioners and the Director-General of Security within three months of commencement. The review should include consideration of leadership structures, team integration, systems access and information sharing arrangements. The review should place particular focus on the Joint Counter-Terrorism Team-NSW, elements of which should be for reporting specifically to the NSW Police Commissioner, the AFP Commissioner and the Director-General of Security.
The Australian Government should consider whether National Security Committee ministers, including the Prime Minister, should participate in a counter-terrorism exercise, along with all National Cabinet members, within nine months of each federal election.
The Commonwealth and states and territories should prioritise efforts to finalise and implement an updated and nationally consistent National Firearms Agreement.
The Commonwealth, states and territories should prioritise efforts to implement the proposed National Gun Buyback Scheme.
Five other recommendations were withheld and labelled confidential.
Mr Albanese will react to the initial findings at a 10.30am press conference.
Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek told Sky News earlier on Thursday the report would be “absolutely critical” for the government.
“Australians are still grieving the event and still searching for answers. I know Virginia Bell will have done a very thorough job,” she said on Thursday.
“It will be a conversation in the Australian public, no doubt. And people will see the interim report later today. They’ll have the opportunity to read it for themselves.”
The report is expected to raise sweeping concerns about the nation’s counter-terrorism preparedness and coordination.
The recommendations are expected to focus on systemic weaknesses in counter-terrorism machinery, particularly intelligence sharing, and government preparedness.
The intelligence sharing concerns relate to the overseas travel by the alleged terrorists, who visited the southern Philippines, a known terrorist hotspot.
Sky News understands the trip taken by the Akrams to the southern Philippines was not for military training but to seek a spiritual blessing for the Bondi attack.
Despite Border Force and the AFP being alerted to the trip, it is not clear that this intelligence was passed on to ASIO or NSW Police.
The first block of public hearings in the Royal Commission will be held from next Monday, May 4.
The hearings, which will run until May 15, will focus on defining and exploring the nature of antisemitism in its historical and contemporary manifestations.
The Royal Commission is expected to hear from witnesses sharing their lived experiences of antisemitism and its impacts on Jewish Australians.
Ms Bell will also probe the metrics for assessing the prevalence of antisemitism in institutions and society, including through incident reporting and survey data.
The final report will be delivered by the one-year anniversary of the attack on December 14, 2026.
Shadow education minister Julian Leeser said the report is expected to scrutinise Australia’s intelligence and security agencies’ knowledge of the attack.
“This part of the report is going to look at what our intelligence and security agencies knew and what level of cooperation there was across the different policing forces, both federal and state,” he said.
“And will hopefully make some recommendations along those lines to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
Mr Leeser encouraged all Australians to make a submission to the commission.
“My plea to Australians this morning, whether they are Jewish or not, is please make a submission to the Royal Commission on Antisemitism – you don’t have to be Jewish to do it,” he said.
“But if you don’t like the way our country has changed and the way our country has failed to deal with the growth of antisemitism… it’s really important that the Royal Commission hears from you.”