Jewish doctors and nurses are experiencing hatred. Now they have reason to hope

June 30, 2026 — 3:30pm

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In Australia we have been justifiably proud of the standard of medical care that was delivered without fear or favour. Our system in the past has reflected Australian values of equality, and a fair go for all.

Why does this matter so much in healthcare? Because healthcare runs on trust, and antisemitism wears that trust away.

Each of us relies on the health system, often at our most frightened and vulnerable. A patient needs to trust the person caring for them. A nurse or a doctor needs to do their work without being made a target for who they are.

When antisemitism reaches a clinic, a ward or a professional body, the harm is real. Jewish practitioners and patients have experienced hatred just because they are Jewish for some time, often without much protection and with little confidence that their concerns would be heard.

That’s why the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency has adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism and committed to a set of practical measures alongside it. These are important steps, and AHPRA deserves credit for taking them. They are also, plainly, a beginning rather than a destination. The level of antisemitism in our health system is frightening for Jewish Australians and concerning for anyone who believes in........

© The Sydney Morning Herald