Foreign Ministry calls on Australia to confront antisemitism in medical sector after critical report

The Foreign Ministry urges Australia to confront antisemitism after an investigation by The Australian newspaper found widespread anti-Jewish discrimination by healthcare workers in Australian hospitals.

The report, published in late June, was based on interviews with 30 doctors, nurses, midwives and other healthcare professionals describing how anti-Israel activism had spilled into hospitals and clinics following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.

It included allegations of antisemitic stickers placed in hospital wards, online posts praising terror groups or using Nazi imagery, and complaints that hospital administrators and regulators failed to discipline staff accused of anti-Jewish conduct.

Several Jewish patients alleged that they had received substandard care after staff learned they were Jewish, although the report noted that this was difficult to prove.

The report followed a widely publicized 2025 incident in which two Sydney nurses threatened to kill Israeli patients in an online video.

“This investigation paints a deeply troubling picture and should serve as a wake-up call,” the ministry writes. “No Jew should ever feel compelled to hide their identity to receive medical care in an Australian hospital.”

This investigation paints a deeply troubling picture and should serve as a wake-up call.

We call upon The Australian government to confront antisemitism forcefully.

Every reluctance, every excuse, and every failure to act sends extremists the same message: they can keep pushing…

— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) July 12, 2026