Anti-Muslim incidents in individual have elevated by 150 p.c – and by 250 p.c on-line — in accordance with an impartial report.
Revealed On 12 Sep 2025
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has stated his authorities will “rigorously think about” the suggestions of an impartial report which discovered that anti-Muslim incidents within the nation have “skyrocketed” because the begin of Israel’s struggle on Gaza.
Throughout a media briefing on the Commonwealth Parliament Places of work in Sydney on Friday, Albanese stated concentrating on Australians primarily based on their spiritual beliefs was an assault on the nation’s core values.
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“Australians ought to have the ability to really feel secure at dwelling in any neighborhood … we should stamp out the hate, concern and prejudice that drives Islamophobia and division in our society,” he stated.
Aftab Malik, who has been serving as the federal government’s particular envoy to fight Islamophobia since final October, was appointed to the three-year function to suggest steps to forestall anti-Muslim hatred. The appointment got here as Australia had been experiencing a surge in anti-Semitic and Islamophobic incidents because the begin of Israel’s genocidal struggle on Gaza following the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, assaults on southern Israel.
The impartial report, launched on Friday and Malik’s first since assuming the place, stated the normalisation of Islamophobia has grow to be so widespread in Australia that many incidents are usually not even getting reported.
“The fact is that Islamophobia in Australia has been persistent, at occasions ignored and different occasions denied, however by no means absolutely addressed,” stated Malik, showing alongside Albanese.
“We have now seen public abuse, graffiti … we’ve seen Muslim girls and youngsters focused, not for what they’ve accomplished, however for who they’re and what they put on.”
The 60-page report’s 54 suggestions to the federal government embrace a assessment of counterterrorism legal guidelines and procedures to research potential discrimination.
Malik additionally really useful a wide-ranging inquiry into Islamophobia to research its most important drivers and potential discrimination in authorities insurance policies.
Islamophobia had intensified because the al-Qaeda assaults on america on September 11, 2001 and had grow to be entrenched, stated Malik.
Islamophobic incidents in individual had skyrocketed by 150 p.c — and by 250 p.c on-line — because the begin of Israel’s struggle on Gaza, Malik stated.
The Australian authorities has acknowledged steep rises in each Islamophobic and anti-Semitic incidents in Australia.
Jillian Segal was appointed envoy to fight anti-Semitism in July 2024.
Segal really useful, in her first report two months in the past, that Australian universities lose authorities funding except they handle assaults on Jewish college students, and that potential migrants be screened for political affiliations.
In line with the 2021 Australian Census, 3.2 p.c of the Australian inhabitants is Muslim.
Islamophobia has additionally risen throughout Europe, fuelled by political events touting a populist anti-immigration stance.
