More than half of the 563 students surveyed say they have hidden their Jewish identity because of fear of antisemitism.

A nationwide survey of Australian university students has revealed widespread antisemitism on Australian university campuses. The survey of 563 Jewish students found 64% had experienced antisemitism at university.

Of those surveyed, 57% said they had hidden their Jewish identity, such as by avoiding wearing clothing or jewellery that identifies them. But only 11% always did so, 31% doing so sometimes and 14% rarely.

Very few students regularly avoid campus due to antisemitism, although 5% said they do sometimes and 13% rarely.

The 396 students who responded were self-selected from 3330 surveys sent to students through the AUJS database and through an opt-in link, raising concerns that the sample was biased, because those who had experienced antisemitism were most likely to respond.

The survey was carried out by the Social Research Centre and commissioned by the Australasian Union of Jewish Students (AUJS) and the Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA) and supported by the Scanlon Foundation.

Most incidents passed without official complaints: only 14% of those who experienced antisemitism had lodged a complaint after their most impactful experience. The top barriers to complaining are a belief that complaining would not make a difference (61%) and that the university would not think the incident was serious enough (48%). Those who did complain were largely dissatisfied with the response received from their university.