Australia PM Anthony Albanese relents after pressure, announces royal commission into Bondi shooting

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced a royal commission, the country’s most powerful form of independent inquiry, on Thursday into last month’s shooting at Bondi Beach. The attackers targeted a Jewish festival and killed 15 people, making it one of the deadliest in the country’s history. After weeks of public pressure, Albanese said that he had taken “the time to reflect” and meet with the Jewish community and decided that a royal commission was the best way forward.

“I’ve repeatedly said that our government’s priority is to promote unity and social cohesion, and this is what Australia needs to heal, to learn, to come together in a spirit of national unity,” he told reporters in Canberra. “It’s clear to me that a royal commission is essential to achieving this,” he added.

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Earlier, Albanese had argued that reforms on gun ownership and hate speech, steps to tackle antisemitism and a review into intelligence and law enforcement agencies was the quickest approach.

Since the attack on 14 December, 2025, the victims’ families and public figures, including lawyers, business people, and athletes, had led a sustained campaign calling for him to launch a royal commission.

A royal commission has expansive powers to investigate and the ability to summon witnesses and compel agencies to produce documents. It can also offer legal protection to whistleblowers.

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The commission will examine four key areas, including the nature and prevalence of antisemitism and its key drivers in Australia, recommending ways to enforcement, border immigration and security agencies to tackle antisemitism, examining the circumstances that led to the Bondi attack, and recommend measures for strengthening social cohesion and countering the spread of ideological and religiously motivated extremism,

Albanese said the work of Dennis Richardson, the former spy chief leading a review into intelligence and law enforcement agencies, would be wrapped into the royal commission, with an interim report expected in April.

Former High Court justice Virginia Bell will lead the commission, Albanese said, adding that he had asked her to submit a report by December 2026 and that this won’t be a drawn-out process. Previous royal commissions have taken years.

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"This royal commission is the right format, the right duration and the right terms of reference to deliver the right outcome for our national unity and our national security," Albanese said.

“The truth is that some people have held Jewish Australians to account for views or actions that that they’re opposed to, that have nothing to do with them,” Albanese said.

Albanese also promised hate speech reform including penalties for preachers and leaders who promote violence and a new federal offence of “aggravated hate speech”.

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The shooting at a Hanukkah event in Bondi, allegedly carried out by a father and son inspired by Islamic State, claimed the lives of 15 people.

One of the alleged shooters, Naveed Akram, who has been charged with dozens of offences, including 15 counts of murder, had been investigated in October 2019 for alleged associations with individuals involved in a reported Islamic State cell. His father was later approved for a gun licence.