A Different Reality: Australian Jewish Schools Grapple with Escalating Security Needs and Unique Challenges

The reality of paying for armed guards at school is a daily experience for Jewish families in Australia, starting from a very young age.

Emanuel School principal Linda Emms shared insights into this environment during her testimony to the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion. "We have a police presence every day," Emms said. "I watch some of the students come in and they'll fist-bump the police as they come in … and say hello to them, and it's lovely, but it's really sad that we have to have parents to do this."

The Operational and Financial Burden

The commission heard evidence about the unexpected ways these security measures impact both students and day-to-day school operations. At Mount Scopus Memorial College in Melbourne, which experienced an antisemitic graffiti attack in May 2024, principal Dan Sztrajt estimated that 10 to 15 per cent of his total work hours are dedicated to security matters.

"These conversations are a part of every aspect of our school community," Sztrajt told the commission. "It pains me tremendously to think of the horrendous opportunity cost that the security focus takes away from our school."

Families are also facing escalating costs, with annual security levies increasing by as much as 250 per cent since the October 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks against Israel. Principals noted that government funding covers only about 30 per cent of security's operational and capital costs, with parents paying annual levies that can exceed $1,000. School leaders worry these rising fees could deter families.

"Many of our families are making sacrifices financially to have their children at a Jewish school," Emms explained. "They're there because they believe in a Jewish education. Many are also there because they don't feel comfortable with their children being in other school systems at present."

Psychological Effects on Students

Tyson Wodak, president of Bialik College in Melbourne, spoke of the impact this environment has on students, including his own children. "I worry about it all the time. I think about what it's like growing up in a secured environment knowing that other people are not growing up in that way," he expressed, fearing that children are "Internalising, I fear, that that's something that is necessary for them and that they are separate from other parts of the Australian community."

The Australian Council of Jewish Schools (ACJS) estimated that 18 Jewish schools will have spent a combined $58 million on security between 2022 and 2025. Stephen Rothman of the ACJS pointed out that these funds divert resources from educational programs.

"There's a somewhat tongue-in-cheek line by members of the Jewish community that it's expensive to be Jewish, and it is," Rothman remarked. "They [Jewish schools] will use resources that other schools would use for all sorts of other facilities, including education, to fund security."

Rothman called for increased government support, arguing that Jewish schools should not bear these costs alone. While Federal Education Minister Jason Clare was unavailable for immediate comment, his office pointed to additional security funding grants promised after the Bondi terror attack. This year's budget also allocated $124 million over three years to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) for upgraded security measures, including at schools.

A Contrast with National Goals

The security measures stand in contrast to the 2019 Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration, signed by all education ministers, which aimed to provide an education system free from discrimination. Emms noted that colleagues from other independent schools are often shocked by the security presence when visiting her campus. "If non-Jewish independent schools in Australia had to have the fences, walls and guards that Jewish students do, I would have no doubt the Australian community would be in uproar," she said.