Albanese government to spend $600m on multi-year Bondi response

The security of Australia’s leading Jewish bodies and cultural centres will be bolstered and counter-terrorism capacity expanded in a $600m, multi-year plan to combat anti-Semitism in the wake of the Bondi Beach terror attack.

Dozens of Jewish organisations, including the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, counter-terrorism police, regulatory authorities and learning institutions will receive a share of $604.2m in funding as part of the federal budget announced on Tuesday.

The funding will be handed out over five years – with $8.1m per year ongoing – and comes almost six months after the December 14 attack left 15 mainly Jewish people dead.

Included in the funding is more than $120m over four years for the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, including $124m to enhance the security of Australia’s Jewish community – $22m of which will be funded over three years through the Confiscated Assets Account under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

A further $46.7m will be spent over four years on support for the wider Jewish community, including improved security and infrastructure upgrades at the Hakoah Club, the National Jewish Memorial Centre and for a non-competitive grant opportunity for projects in the Chabad of Bondi.

Lewis’ Continental Kitchen, which was firebombed in a previous incident, Jewish youth camps across Victoria, and victims of the Bondi attack will also be supported through about $5m in funding, with a further $42.9m over two years for immediate mental health supports.

National security spotlighted

In the lead up to the budget, the Albanese government announced it would spend $80m over two years to enhance counter-terrorism capabilities through a new national centre, which would focus on online radicalisation of young people.

In total, more than $207m will be spent combating anti-Semitism and violent extremism in the 2026-27 budget.

That includes almost $70m for the AFP for its National Security Investigations teams, as well as tens of millions of dollars for a range of government agencies, including funding for a Department of Education teachers’ resources hub and the Department of Home Affairs hate group framework.

A further $32.6m will be spent in 2026-27 on public awareness campaigns to “strengthen Australia’s national security and social cohesion”.

The Together for Humanity education program will also be extended and expanded, with $20m in funding over four years.

SBS will also receive $3m over three years for its SBS Examines podcast series.

Royal Commission

The Royal Commission on Anti-Semitism and Social Cohesion, the first hearings into which got underway last week, will be funded through more than $131m allocated to the Attorney-General’s Department from 2025-26.

Funding will also be continued to support national firearms licensing reforms, though how much exactly was not public.

“Disclosure would prejudice the Commonwealth’s negotiations with jurisdictions on funding levels,’ the government said.

The budget also contained a provision for a “contingency reserve” for the National Gun Buyback Scheme, which has struggled to get off the ground following push back from a number of states and territories.

The scheme, however, has already been partially funded.