Antisemitic conspiracy taints Grace Tame’s latest child safety campaign

There are few causes more serious than the protection of children. Every community in Australia has had to confront the horror of child sexual abuse. The Jewish community is not immune. We have been shamed by abuse within our own institutions, including schools and religious spaces. 

Communities across Australia have faced similar reckonings, from churches to scouts to early childhood centres and tertiary institutions. Predators have too often hidden behind titles, reputations, and institutional loyalty.  

For Jewish Australians, one of the most painful examples was Malka Leifer. A former principal, she fled to Israel and fought extradition for years. That battle took far too long. But she was ultimately extradited to Australia, convicted and imprisoned. That was justice. No community, no ideology, no religious institution, and no state should ever be used as a shield for predators. 

That is why I was initially drawn to a recent post shared by Grace Tame. Its broader argument, about the urgent need to restructure child safety systems from the top down, is important. Australia’s early childhood sector has recently faced horrifying allegations and systemic failures, prompting governments to move quickly. National reforms have included faster reporting of abuse allegations, stronger penalties, mandatory child-safety training and a National Early Childhood Worker Register. These changes matter because the issue deserves nothing less than urgency. Children’s safety cannot be treated as an administrative inconvenience.