The eagerly awaited interim report from the royal commission on antisemitism is anticipated to suggest areas needing “urgent or immediate action.” However, it will draw on publicly sourced information, excluding details from private hearings.

This inquiry will compile its findings, scheduled for submission to Governor-General Sam Mostyn on April 30, from notices to produce, public submissions, and consultations.

As the commission’s inaugural report since its establishment earlier this year, it is likely to scrutinize security agencies and potential intelligence lapses linked to the tragic terrorist attack on December 14. This incident, which occurred during a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney, claimed the lives of 15 individuals, predominantly Jewish Australians.

The initial public hearings are set to take place in Sydney from May 4 to 15. These sessions will explore the definition of antisemitism, its impact on Jewish Australians, and how its prevalence can be measured within institutions and society at large.

In a statement to SBS News prior to the interim report’s publication, the royal commission confirmed that no private hearings have been conducted thus far. The forthcoming report will be enriched by various sources, including information obtained through notices to produce, public submissions, and meetings.

The commission highlighted that a considerable number of submissions received have spotlighted personal experiences of antisemitism across diverse sectors such as education, employment, media, health, arts, sports, and the digital realm.

It said the report would “identify other issues requiring urgent or immediate action. The Commissioner will make recommendations relevant to these issues”.

Ronald Sackville, the former chair of the disability royal commission, said the interim report is likely to be confined to examining the actions of the intelligence agencies and police forces, based on the comments of the royal commissioner Virginia Bell.

He said a full examination and a full set of recommendations may have to wait until the final report.

“It may be that the interim report doesn’t provide a complete and full analysis of all the issues arising out of the law enforcement and intelligence issues that the commission is going to investigate, but we’ll just have to wait and see whether it does that.”

Scott Prasser, a public policy researcher and expert on royal commissions, said interim reports are usually done halfway through a royal commission.

“To me, they should have been talking to some people, preferably in public hearings, before we have any sort of interim report,” he told SBS News.

He said questions that could be asked to establish facts included: “how quickly did the police respond, what happened, who was what where and so on”.

“So I’m not quite sure whether this, it’s to me, it’s rushing the process.”

Prasser said facts could be established without affecting the separate criminal trial for alleged shooter Naveed Akram, who is facing 59 charges, including murder and terrorism offences.

“It could establish all sorts of things like: ‘Who were affected?’, ‘What were people doing?’ How much police surveillance was there?’

“Were the New South Wales Police alerted to it? How long did it take for the authorities to respond to all those sort of things, which have got nothing to do with who was shooting.”

Prasser said the public hearings would be an important mechanism for Jewish Australians to express their feelings and experiences of antisemitism.

“The hearings are often where the Royal Commission gets a clear idea of what happened and who did what.”

The Commission has also not ruled out further interim reports, saying others could be prepared if they are “considered necessary”.

Earlier this year, former ASIO chief Dennis Richardson resigned from his position as special adviser to the antisemitism royal commission, saying he felt he was “surplus” to the needs of the inquiry.

He said the interim report that will now be done by the royal commission will be “a very different document” to the one that he would have done in his review, before the royal commission was announced.

The Albanese government initially refused to call a royal commission into the Bondi massacre, instead tapping Richardson to head a review of the adequacy of intelligence and law enforcement agencies before the attack.

Following weeks of political pressure, Albanese relented and announced a broader inquiry to be headed by Bell, a former High Court judge, to investigate antisemitism and any failures in the nation’s intelligence services.

Richardson’s review was folded into the new royal commission.

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