Hearing Block 9: Social cohesion
The Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion held its ninth and final hearing block in Sydney from Monday 17 August 2026 to Wednesday 26 August 2026.
Scope
Hearing Block 9 focused on strengthening social cohesion in Australia.
The Letters Patent establishing the Royal Commission define social cohesion as the national consensus in support of democracy, freedom and the rule of law and recognise that social cohesion provides the strongest defence against antisemitism and other forms of religious and ideologically motivated extremism.
Hearing Block 9 heard from a number of witnesses about:
- How social cohesion can be understood and measured.
- Social cohesion and the human rights framework.
- Initiatives and programs undertaken by various communities, religious groups and organisations across Australia that seek to strengthen social cohesion.
- Social cohesion in the education sector.
- Government activities to promote social cohesion.
Applications for leave to appear
The Royal Commission invited persons who considered they had a direct and substantial interest in the scope of this hearing block to make an application for leave to appear by no later than 4:00pm (AEST) on Tuesday 11 August 2026.
An application for leave to appear was not how witnesses were selected. For more information, please refer to Witnesses at Royal Commission.