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NSW Police Misclassified Hundreds of Incidents, Inflating Antisemitism Figures
A parliamentary inquiry has revealed that New South Wales (NSW) police wrongly categorized a “significant” number of incidents as antisemitic, including instances of anti-Palestinian graffiti and verbal abuse directed at pro-Palestine protesters. The inflated figures were previously cited by the state government to justify the passage of controversial laws restricting protests and expanding police powers.
The revelations emerged from a lengthy written response submitted by police to the NSW parliamentary inquiry into antisemitism, following questioning about inconsistencies in reported data. Operation Shelter, launched on October 11, 2023, in response to a pro-Palestine protest at the Sydney Opera House, has resulted in 249 charges against 231 individuals, with 44 of those charges related to physical violence as of August.
However, a review of the 367 incidents initially recorded as antisemitic under Operation Shelter revealed that many did not meet the police’s own definition of antisemitism – “prejudice or hatred directed at individuals based on their Jewish faith or cultural identity.” According to the police response, “In certain specific cases, incidents were incorrectly categorised as ‘antisemitic’ solely on the basis that the person reporting or the victim was Jewish.”
Several examples illustrate the misclassification. One incident involved a man allegedly verbally insulting and physically striking a Jewish community member who publicly expressed pro-Palestine views. Another concerned a man verbally abusing pro-Palestinian protesters outside the office of prime Minister Anthony Albanese and destroying their banners.
Perhaps more strikingly, incidents with no apparent connection to antisemitism were also included. A person who displayed a Palestinian flag at their home reported receiving a threatening letter with a doll’s head attached, and anti-Palestinian graffiti targeting Muslims and Arabs was found on toilet doors at hornsby Westfield. Both were initially classified as antisemitic incidents by police. Even a Lime bike graffitied with “Free Gaza” near a Jewish daycare was recorded in the database.
The inquiry also uncovered a controversial case where staff at a News Corp outlet allegedly attempted to provoke antisemitic comments from workers at a Middle Eastern restaurant; this incident was nonetheless logged as antisemitism. Further complicating the data, the review identified 38 duplicate entries, including one protest at Port Botany in March 2024 recorded 17 times and another at unanderra in April 2024 entered four times.
Police attributed the inaccuracies to frequent staff rotations managing Operation Shelter, leading to varying levels of consistency in data recording. The data was compiled on a manually recorded spreadsheet drawn from a police computer database.
The discrepancies are especially sensitive given that NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley previously defended recently passed hate speech legislation – described by one Labour MP as “draconian” – by citing figures suggesting over 700 antisemitic incidents had occurred since October 2023. Catley later conceded in September that she “may have had the figure wrong,” clarifying that only 367 of the 815 incidents recorded by Operation Shelter up to march 26, 2025, were confirmed as antisemitic. The police response this month indicates the actual number of verified antisemitic incidents is even lower.
A policy officer, Jennifer Hastings, previously told the inquiry in July that the inclusion of incidents in hate crime databases was often driven by the perceptions of those reporting or affected. “We’re not recording it to determine that it is a hate incident,” Hastings stated. “If the community feels that it is an incident, then we will capture it.”
A spokesperson for the NSW government acknowledged that official records likely represent only a fraction of the true extent of antisemitism and racism, stating, “Over the last two years there has been an outbreak of antisemitism. Official records are only tip of the iceberg with most instances of antisemitism and racism going unreported.”
The revelations raise serious questions about the accuracy of data used to justify legislative changes and the potential for misrepresenting the scope of hate crimes within the state.
Key Takeaways
Here are some key takeaways from the NSW Police misclassification of incidents:
did you know?– NSW police wrongly categorized numerous incidents as antisemitic, including anti-Palestinian actions.
Pro tip:– The misclassifications inflated figures used to justify controversial laws restricting protests.
Reader question:– Why were incidents misclassified? Inconsistencies stemmed from
