The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) has announced in a Joint Statement alongside Australia's Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism Ms Jillian Segal AO that the health practitioner regulator has adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism alongside the Special Envoy's handbook to guide its regulatory work and to ‘ensure a consistent understanding of contemporary antisemitism’.

The NSW Council for Civil Liberties and Liberty Victoria strongly oppose the adoption of the IHRA definition of antisemitism on the basis that doing so would have an unjustified and improper chilling effect on freedom of expression and protest rights, including that it would impede legitimate criticism of Israel and/or the political ideology of Zionism.

The definition has been criticised by human rights NGOs, the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, as contributing to violations of human rights. Notably: 

• The original drafter of the definition, Kenneth Stern, has since become a vocal critic on the misuse of the definition, noting that it is being weaponised to stifle free speech. The IHRA working definition is not fit to be the foundation of understanding contemporary antisemitism and should not be adopted by AHPRA.

• 104 civil society organisations, including leading human rights NGOs, have co-signed a letter to the United Nations urging against the use and adoption of the IHRA definition. They stated that: “the UN should ensure that its vital efforts to combat antisemitism do not inadvertently embolden or endorse policies and laws that undermine fundamental human rights, including the right to speak and organize in support of Palestinian rights and to criticize Israeli government policies". 

• 11 leading Israeli civil society and human rights NGOs issued a statement in 2023 urging the United Nations against promoting the IHRA definition, stating that the definition ‘is deliberately weaponized to frame legitimate criticisms of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians as antisemitism’.   

NSW Council for Civil Liberties and Liberty Victoria share the concerns that the IHRA working definition is not fit for purpose and is likely to stifle legitimate criticism of Israel and Zionism.  

In adopting this definition and the special support material, AHPRA has undermined the fundamental human rights of the practitioners they regulate, and opened the door for the complaints procedures they oversee to be weaponised against those who raise legitimate criticisms of Israel and its treatment of Palestinians.

Comments attributable to Timothy Roberts, NSWCCL President:

“This announcement is a disgraceful political act by a regulator that should be fiercely independent. The widespread concerns that have been raised by many of both the IHRA definition and controversial views of the Special Envoy are such that AHPRA should have known and done better than to adopt this position.

“Nurses, doctors, and other health practitioners have the same rights of political communication as us all. They should not be distracted from their important work  in our community by having to respond to weaponised complaints about their personal  views”. 

Comments attributable to Gemma Cafarella, President of Liberty Victoria:

“The IHRA definition has been roundly discredited. It is entirely unfit for the purpose of making healthcare safer for Jewish people. This is a disappointing lost opportunity to actually tackle antisemitism in healthcare”. 

“The use of the IHRA definition will unjustifiably stifle the free speech of healthcare workers - including the Jewish healthcare workers - who are concerned about Israel’s atrocities in Palestine and elsewhere, and further societal division.”

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