Sydney’s Jewish community told police of a “high” threat of an attack at December’s Chanukah by the Sea festival at Bondi beach, but New South Wales police appeared not to have completed a comprehensive risk assessment for the event, an interim royal commission report has found.
The interim report of the royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion, established in the wake of December’s terror attack, found no gap in current laws that could have prevented the shooting. But it did call for greater coordination of policing at Jewish festivals and events.
Among the 14 recommendations outlined in the report, the royal commission said the federal government’s counter-terrorism coordinator should become a full-time position; the commonwealth and states should finalise nationally consistent gun laws and prioritise a proposed post-Port Arthur style gun buyback; and that joint counter-terrorism teams across Australia be reviewed. Five recommendations remained classfied.
Sign up for the Breaking News Australia emailThe report, handed down by commissioner Virginia Bell on Thursday, also warned that the current war being waged against Iran by the United States and Israel “is likely to have increased the risk of attacks directed at the Australian Jewish community”.
Recommendation 1
The procedures adopted by NSW Police in respect of Operation Jewish High Holy Days should apply to other high risk Jewish festivals and events, particularly those that have a public facing element.
Recommendation 2
Having regard to the significance of the role of the Commonwealth Counter-Terrorism Coordinator in providing counter-terrorism leadership, the Commission recommends consideration be given to making the Counter-Terrorism Coordinator’s role full-time.
Recommendation 3
If the Australia-New Zealand Counter-Terrorism Committee (ANZCTC) is to be used again as a crisis committee, the ANZCTC should be included in the Australian Government Crisis Management Framework so its role is clear.
Recommendation 4
The Counter-Terrorism Handbook should be updated promptly and then at least every three years in coordination with updates to the Counter-Terrorism Plan and the ANZCTC triennial review.
Recommendation 5
The ANZCTC should provide direct advice in the form of a written and/or oral briefing, at least annually, to National Cabinet (including, as appropriate, advice on ANZCTC activities, the use of the ANZCTC Special Fund, and national counter-terrorism challenges and priorities).
Recommendation 6
The ANZCTC should commission a review of the Joint Counter-Terrorism Teams, with a report to be submitted to Police Commissioners and the Director-General of Security within three months of commencement. The review should include consideration of leadership structures, team integration, systems access and information sharing arrangements. The review should place particular focus on the Joint Counter-Terrorism Team-NSW, elements of which should be for reporting specifically to the NSW Police Commissioner, the AFP Commissioner and the Director-General of Security.
Recommendation 7
The Australian Government should consider whether National Security Committee ministers, including the Prime Minister, should participate in a counter-terrorism exercise, along with all National Cabinet members, within nine months of each federal election.
Recommendations 8-12
These recommendations are contained in the confidential Interim Report.
Recommendation 13
The Commonwealth and states and territories should prioritise efforts to finalise and implement an updated and nationally consistent National Firearms Agreement.
Recommendation 14
The Commonwealth, states and territories should prioritise efforts to implement the proposed National Gun Buyback Scheme.
The commission was established in the wake of December’s Bondi massacre, in which two alleged Islamic State-inspired gunmen shot and killed 15 people and injured 40 others as they attended a beachside Hanukah event for the Jewish community.
In its report, it said Community Security Group (CSG) NSW – a Jewish community security organisation – informed NSW police on 28 November of the planned Chanukah by the Sea event and requested police assistance.
On 8 December, CSG NSW sent another email to NSW police advising of the event, along with 12 other upcoming Jewish communal events in the eastern suburbs.
In the email, the CSG said it had assessed the current “Security Level Alert for the NSW Jewish community [as] HIGH”.
“A terrorist attack against the NSW Jewish Community is likely and there is a high level of antisemitic vilification,” the CSG said in the email, detailed in the report.
The report found that decisions about how to allocate resources to such events were “informed by a risk assessment process”, but it did not appear police completed a comprehensive risk assessment for Chanukah by the Sea.
“No written risk assessment for Chanukah by the Sea 2025 has been provided by NSW Police,” the report found.
The NSW police commissioner, Mal Lanyon, acknowledged the finding but insisted police had carried out a risk assessment.
“There was a policing presence on that night. NSW [police] had worked with CSG in the lead up to it … as we continue to do,” Lanyon said on Thursday.
“As the commissioner, I’ve been very clear that we will learn from this incident. If there are lessons to take away, as an organisation, I am committed to implementing that.”
The report noted that the NSW police response to the attack was contained in the confidential interim report because of the ongoing criminal proceedings involving one of the alleged shooters, Naveed Akram.
“Following finalisation of any criminal proceedings arising from the attack, this section should be released publicly,” the report found.
But the report found there was no gap in current laws that could have prevented the terrorist attack from being detected in advance.
“No material or advice from any agency identified any gap in the existing legal and regulatory frameworks that impeded the ability for law enforcement, border control, immigration and security agencies to prevent, or respond to, an attack of the kind that occurred at Bondi on 14 December 2025,” the report said.
“No Commonwealth or state intelligence or law enforcement agency has suggested that it was prevented from taking prohibitive actions before or on 14 December 2025 by the then current legislative and authorising framework.
“In these respects, no issue requiring urgent or immediate action has been identified.”
However, the commission said it has received a “considerable body of material” that “has revealed aspects in which counter-terrorism capability at Commonwealth and state levels could be improved”.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said the government would implement all of relevant recommendations.
“I can confirm that the national security committee has met this morning and we have adopted and will implement all the recommendations of the interim report that are relevant to the commonwealth,” Albanese said.
‘No conclusion’ about effectiveness of agencies before attack
The interim report said the commission had not yet reached any conclusions about intelligence failures or police resourcing before the attack.
“While systemic aspects of the effectiveness of Commonwealth and state intelligence and law enforcement … are addressed in this interim report, important issues arising from the Bondi attack, including whether there was any failure to identify and act upon intelligence in the lead up to it, or in the allocation of police resources to the Chanukah event, will be addressed in hearings,” the report said.
“No conclusion in these respects can be reached on a review of the agencies’ documents alone and in the absence of according procedural fairness to any person or agency at risk of an adverse finding.”
The report states that, since 7 October 2023, there has been an “increase in the occurrence and reporting of antisemitic incidents has led to a significant increase in contact between relevant NSW Police Commands” and the Jewish safety organisation, Community Security Group NSW.
Bell’s report also recommended the Australia-New Zealand Counter-Terrorism Committee commission a review of joint counter-terrorism teams, which are made up of state and federal police, along with Asio. That review should examine information-sharing arrangements between agencies, with a “particular focus on the Joint Counter-Terrorism Team-NSW”.
Bell also recommended the federal government’s counter-terrorism coordinator should be a full-time position. Since 2022, the coordinator has also been the counter foreign interference coordinator. The person in the roles, Hamish Hansford, is also the head of national security within the home affairs department.
The report argued these additional responsibilities “take up significant time, even if, at time, that other work intersects with counterterrorism work”.
“There may well be a logical reason for the counterterrorism coordinator to have responsibilities in respect of countering foreign interference … however, in light of the terrorist attack in Bondi, and given the importance of the coordination work and convening role of the counterterrorism coordinator, consideration should be given to the role being undertaken on a full-time basis.”
Bell’s report also recommended that ministers should be better prepared to respond to unfolding terrorism crises.
“The Australian Government should consider whether National Security Committee ministers, including the Prime Minister, should participate in a counter-terrorism exercise, along with all National Cabinet members, within nine months of each federal election.”
Questions over national firearms registry
In her report, Bell questioned whether efforts to establish a national firearms registry after the Wieambilla shootings – which were accelerated after the Bondi tragedy – were “unduly leisurely”.
It noted that while national cabinet agreed in late 2023 to have the registry fully operational within four years, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (Acic) had informed the commission that states and territories were working on deadlines stretching into mid-2028.
“There is an issue as to whether this timetable is unduly leisurely for a systemic improvement that the National Cabinet has required to be accelerated,” the report said.
Bell was appointed to lead the royal commission after the Bondi terror attack, with the commission’s interim report heavily focused on intelligence and law enforcement agencies.
The report – released ahead of public hearings next week – has relied on information given to the commission through submissions, notices to produce, and private meetings.
The first block of public hearings are slated to start Monday, and will focus on experiences of antisemitism.
Naveed Akram, 24, faces 15 charges of murder and 40 of attempted murder in relation to the attack. His 50-year-old father, Sajid, was shot dead by police.
- additional reporting: Penry Buckley
