Jason Clare elaborated on this approach to journalists on Wednesday, affirming his commitment to addressing all forms of racism.
Segal’s 20-page proposal, released last Thursday, includes numerous suggestions for the higher education sector, such as introducing a “university report card” and potentially withholding government funding from universities that fail to address or enable antisemitism.
Clare stated that the government will also await a report from the special envoy tackling Islamophobia, expected in August, and a wider review into university racism by the Australian Human Rights Commission in October, before responding to Segal’s plan.
He emphasized the need to look at all aspects of university racism, urging a comprehensive approach to combat intolerance and bigotry.
Some academics and human rights groups have raised concerns that Segal’s recommendations could be used to stifle free speech instead of combating bigotry.
Clare did not comment directly on potential similarities between the proposed funding mechanism intervention and actions by the Trump administration against universities.
The race discrimination commissioner, Giridharan Sivaraman, had previously noted a significant increase in antisemitism as one catalyst for the broader consultations on university-level racism.
Labor MP Ed Husic expressed caution regarding the adoption of the IHRA definition of antisemitism, suggesting it could be misused to conflate criticism of Israel with antisemitism.
The government has not indicated which aspects of Segal’s plan it will adopt but may focus on education and prevention strategies.
The Coalition supports Segal’s plan but has not specified which measures it would endorse; shadow home affairs minister Andrew Hastie has called for a judicial inquiry, stricter visa policies, and a law enforcement task force to address this issue.
