Bondi victim's daughter says antisemitism 'allowed to come into the open' at royal commission

The royal commission states it is to deliver a final report on the anniversary of the December 2023 shooting.

A witness known only as AAL discusses moving to Australia in the 1980s and expresses that he must consider whether it remains the country for his grandchildren.

The commission says nearly 7,500 submissions had been made as of Monday morning. The first block of public hearings will focus on lived experience of antisemitism and run through May 15.

Gutnick is the first witness before Australia's royal commission into antisemitism in Sydney. She says antisemitism has shifted since October 2023 and asserts it has become socially acceptable to make antisemitic comments in public discourse; she also recounts her father's death during the Bondi attack.

Former High Court judge Virginia Bell published an interim report for the royal commission, proposing 14 recommendations including prioritising gun reforms and extending policing arrangements for Jewish high holy days to other Jewish events.

A Hanukkah event on Bondi Beach was attacked; 15 people were killed. Gunman Sajid Akram was shot dead by police, and his son Naveed Akram was critically injured and later transferred from hospital to prison.