News Centre

Good morning.

I am so honoured to be able to address the National Council of Jewish Women of Australia – and I have made sure I have left time for questions because I am really looking forward to hearing from you.

Your founder, was a female trailblazer – my favourite type – and I am intrigued and in awe of her altruism and her brilliant mind.

Apart from the fact that she received her Diploma of Music from the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music in 1914, it is an absolute credit to her character and her civic compassion that she would graduate as a medical doctor a few years later.

To work in Kings Cross at the time she did would have been as confronting as it was risky, yet she dedicated herself to caring for people who others would have preferred were invisible.

She said at the time: “No one wants to know that there is so much heartbreak, suffering and…degradation in the Cross. I must live and work here”.

It’s no wonder she was labelled The Angel of Kings Cross. 

And it is no wonder that NCJWA’s call to action is: Justice, Justice Shall You Pursue.

I know people will have different interpretation for this moral command, but for me it means justice is a life-long pursuit, because we never stop pursuing justice. And we do it knowing that the means in how we pursue justice matters just as much as the end goal.

This ethos lives within my bones.

As Commissioner, transparency, accountability and humility to my workforce and the Australian community are foundational to the AFP’s mission to defend and protect Australia and its future from domestic and global security threats.

But the AFP cannot defend and protect our country by ourselves.

Since becoming Commissioner, I have been expressing the need for modern day service to country. 

I am proud, and frankly relieved, that generations continue to join the AFP, the Australian Defence Force and other national security and law enforcement agencies.

And while I accept wearing a uniform is not for everyone, all citizens can play a role in contributing to Australia's national security and protecting our future.

Since I became Commissioner, I have been asking the community: If you have not thought about working for the AFP, have you thought about working with the AFP, because Australia’s security, our way of life and our future – our kids – they are all at stake. And everyone has a stake in our safety and security.

I will reinforce this ask again today, however, I want to expressly acknowledge that the NCJWA is already performing an important civic duty - your service to country through your focus on human rights, social justice and the advancement of all women. 

NCJWA has been doing this in many ways for a long period of time, yet I particularly want to recognise how you have been supporting Australia's Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism, and the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion.

I want to thank you for being brave and honest for providing a dossier of information to the Royal Commission on lived experiences of antisemitism after October 7, 2023, and after the Bondi Beach terrorist attack. 

The ugly abuse and threats recorded must be compounding trauma because I know antisemitism has not ended.

And while we long for antisemitism to be consigned to the history books, until then, the fight to end this hostility and prejudice must live in the present.

You must be heard because silence is a sabotage to liberty and that creates a permissive environment for hate.

And I believe as women, often the great protectors, we often fight to be heard to protect our children and our future generations.

I am deeply disappointed, frustrated and motivated to do more when I hear stories about those within the Jewish community, especially children, who have removed their Kippah or the Star of David because they fear being racially abused or worse.

Never, ever again, should anyone from the Jewish community feel they need to hide or strip away their identify just to stay safe.

It is sickening when we feel we cannot keep our kids safe.

But I never want you to feel alone or that you are doing things in absence of others when it comes to protecting your community.

I acknowledge that at times the AFP can appear slightly removed from the public because of the different legislated roles and responsibilities held by us and state and territory law enforcement agencies.

However, as AFP Commissioner, I stand here with clarity and determination, to let all Australians know that we will not tolerate hate crimes or other offences that undermine community cohesion, our democracy or our national security.

I have a laser-like focus on protecting Australia and how we live peacefully together. Australia’s way of life must be defended and safeguarded, especially for our children, who are our future. 

I have now been Commissioner for about 10 months, and during that time, there has been a number of high-profile matters that have directly or indirectly required significant action from the AFP.

Significant law enforcement planning, resources and community reassurance have been needed for many of these operations, but none has come close to the aftermath of the deadly assault at Bondi Beach.

That atrocity has wounded our nation, and the scar will forever endure in our national psyche.

There has been, and remains a lot of noise, post the Bondi attack.

But for myself and the AFP, we are not distracted from the fact 15 innocent people were killed. The Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion continues its important work and the AFP looks forward to its final report.

Today, I want to lay down the draw bridge and bring you into my confidence. I want to give you some information from the inner sanctum and let you know what was going through my mind during the darkest day in Australia’s history in about 30 years.

On the day of December 14, I was in Vanuatu for official meetings relating to the national security challenges we are facing in the Pacific.

It was close to 7pm, when media were reporting a significant attack in Sydney, but the motivation was not immediately apparent.

By 7.21pm, when information became clearer, conversations were being held between myself and my office about getting me home as soon as possible.

Every second in Vanuatu felt as long as an hour. It was an excruciating wait to get to Australia. 

And while I was able to have initial conversations almost immediately with Prime Minister Albanese at our High Commission in Vanuatu about what we knew and what the next steps would be, as you could expect, the details were still scant, still unfolding and needed verification.

There were many unknowns in the hours after the attack, but I knew what I could bank on – the AFP responding with muscle memory, with purpose and without hesitation, and working closely with our domestic, Commonwealth and international partners.

When I landed in Australia, I held relevant security briefings and updates with the Prime Minister, Home Affairs Minister, NSW Police Commissioner, the AFP’s Counter Terrorism and Special Investigations Command and senior members of the Jewish community.

Over the coming days my immediate team and I relocated to the AFP’s Sydney office, in part to be closer to our NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team, which includes the AFP, ASIO, NSW Police and the NSW Crime Commission.

On December 16, in Sydney with Commonwealth and state representatives, I made my first public comments on the attack.

I want to read you a few paragraphs of those remarks because they give a sense of the main message I wanted Australians to take from me as AFP Commissioner.

I didn’t mince words. I wanted Australians to know I would be vulnerable with them in their grief, yet that they could count on me as Commissioner and the AFP to be strong, focussed and have the clarity and expertise when it came to discharging our duties for the enormous job ahead.

I said:

This was a barbaric attack against Jewish Australians.

On Sunday, Jewish Australians were hunted down in broad day light at an Australian iconic beach.

The suspected murderers, callous in their coordination, appear to have had no regard for the age or ableness of their victims. It appears the alleged killers were more interested in a quest for a death tally.

Like October 7, 2023, we will not forget how that shocking attack forced Jews around the world to re-live modern-day terror that should have been consigned to the history books decades ago.

In Australia, the AFP will also never forget the date of December 14 – and what it means for a community that deserves to live in peace and harmony.

Since December, we have worked in partnership with the NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team to investigate the attack at Bondi and we are now supporting the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions through the prosecution phase. 

Many have asked me how I felt about the Bondi attack happening so early on my Commissionership.

And it is an easy answer. My previous role as AFP Deputy Commissioner National Security held me in very good stead.

The contemporary intelligence, system processes and threat assessments remained fresh in my mind, and importantly, I still maintained trusted partnerships with many in the Jewish community. 

I also believed we were organisationally positioned in the most advantageous way to contribute to the multi-jurisdictional investigation because of the reforms I introduced when I became Commissioner in October 2025.

Those reforms included shifting the AFP to a national security agency that would focus on high harm, high value targets impacting on Australia.

I did this because of the terrorism operating environment and the growing threat and unpredictability of criminal convergences.

My first public announcement in October was the formation of new National Security Investigations teams to target groups and individuals causing high harm to our community cohesion. I did this because I was growing more concerned about Australia’s degrading security environment.

Essentially, the National Security Investigations Teams are a flying squad of hate disrupters who focus on high-harm, high-impact politically motivated violence, communal violence and hate crimes that do not meet the threshold for terrorism investigations but drive fear and division.

This is all about stopping hate and division earlier – and well before it leads to violence.

As of 5 August 2026, the teams have charged 56 individuals with Commonwealth offences.

Of these 56 individuals:

• 38 individuals have been charged for offences relating to threats against parliamentarians and high office holders
• 29 individuals have been charged with using of a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offence
• 10 individuals have been charged with using a carriage service to make a threat, and
• 3 individuals have been charged with threatening to cause harm to a Commonwealth public official.

These charges and our investigations will not be a surprise to many of you in this room.

Our social harmony is fraying, many people are angry and willing to express it, and conspiracy theories and a further distrust in traditional institutions is contributing to mis and disinformation.

Add the complexity of social media, and we have one of the greatest challenges we are facing – and that is disengaged, confused, resentful and violent young people.

They are being radicalised by extremists and manipulated by hate preachers.

Operation ANTROBUS is the AFP’s standing investigation into hate preachers, who are very adept at knowing how to push it right to the legal threshold without crossing over to a criminal act.

The challenges relating to youth are also coming at a time when many protective factors are eroding or are not there at all.

When I talk about protective factors, its support like family, sport, school, faith leaders, teachers – all the reinforcements that cocoon our young people from harm.

Often, when the AFP charge young people for serious crimes, it is because one or more of these protective factors are missing.

For example, these young people may refuse to attend school, they may live in a dysfunctional home, or they may no longer have good role models.

However, that is not always the case, and some young people, impressionable and curious, are just being manipulated, and a lot of the time via social media.

Many youth want answers about contentious or polarising issues. So instead of asking a parent, teacher or coach, they look for answers online and are often siphoned to sites that peddle mis and disinformation, or to chat groups or platforms that are violent, racist or are misogynist.

From 2020 to 12 August 2026, there have been, 65 youths, aged between 12-17 years, who have been investigated for serious crimes by Joint Counter Terrorism Teams across the country.

Thirty-five of those youths have been charged with one or more Commonwealth terrorism-related offence. 

Of the 65 youths investigated, 45 per cent identified as being religiously motivated, 25 per cent as ideologically motivated, 14 per cent had a mixed ideology and 1per cent had an unclear ideology, and 15 per cent are still yet to be determined. ​ 

Almost all the youth identified in the case load displayed early indicators of radicalisation to parents, educators or to healthcare professionals.  

If it used to take a village to raise a child, because of advances in technology, it now takes a country to keep them safe.

The pace and scale of manipulation and radicalisation is at levels we have never seen before.

This is not a problem law enforcement can do on its own. This requires a whole-of-society effort, including working with responsible tech companies that can be the digital penicillin of our time.

Under my Commissionership, the AFP will be ambitious and bold in how we connect with the communities we serve and always be open to new partnerships.

I ask that we continue our conversation and that you keep connected to the AFP.

And with a genuine invitation, I ask you to consider how the NCJWA could work with the AFP.

It is important that you know I will work hard every day as AFP Police Commissioner to protect our country and our future, and I will also do this side-by-side with the mothers of this country who understand what we need to protect today and tomorrow.

Thank you.