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philip Mendes

Monash University, Social Work, Faculty Member

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I am a Professor, and Director of the Social Inclusion and Social Policy Research Unit in the Department of Social Work at Monash University. I am the author or co-author of 13 books including Young people transitioning from out-of-home care: International Research, Policy and Practice (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016), the 3rd edition of Australia's Welfare Wars (UNSW Press, 2017), and Empowerment and Control in the Australian welfare state (Routledge, 2019). Recently completed projects include a Sydney Myer-funded national study of Indigenous young people leaving care in partnership with SNAICC and the Monash University Indigenous Studies Centre, an ARC Discovery study of compulsory income management in three sites, and an AHURI-funded study of the housing experiences of care leavers in Victoria and WA. Other research interests include the Australian far Right and social welfare policy, illicit drug policies including particularly supervised injecting facilities, social workers and policy practice, the social work registration debate, and Jewish community responses to institutional child sexual abuse including the case of Malka Leifer.
Address: Department of Social Work
Monash University

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Papers by philip Mendes

How did the Australian Jewish print media report the 1952 Antisemitic Slansky show trial in Prague, Czechoslovakia? By

Australian Jewish Historical Society Journal, 2026

The prosecution and execution of 11 leading Jewish Communists in Czechoslovakia for alleged espio... more The prosecution and execution of 11 leading Jewish Communists in Czechoslovakia for alleged espionage in late 1952 sent shockwaves around the Jewish world. All mainstream Australian Jewish bodies condemned the overtly Antisemitic nature of the trial, but pro-Soviet groups such as the Jewish Council to Combat Fascism and Anti-Semitism (JCCFAS) insisted that the trial was informed by political anti-Zionist rather than racist Antisemitic assumptions. This paper examines how three Australian Jewish newspapers-the Australian Jewish News, the Australian Jewish Herald, and the Hebrew Standard of Australasia-reported the trial and its political impact on Australia. It is argued that the JCCFAS's widely reported failure to condemn the trial accelerated its political marginalization within the Jewish community.

How does the media represent institutional child sexual abuse within Jewish communities? A case study of the Malka Leifer court case

by philip Mendes and Marcia Pinskier

Australian journal of social issues/The Australian journal of social issues, Feb 15, 2024

Antisemitism parliamentary inquiry two MARCH 2025

Fathom Magazine, 2025

The second inquiry, held by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights, reported in Februa... more The second inquiry, held by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights, reported in February 2025 (PJCHR 2025a). That inquiry, chaired by Josh Burns, the Labor Party Member for McNamara, received 49 written submissions that were in addition to the 669 written submissions received by the first inquiry, and conducted four days of public hearings.

Back to a dark racist past: How the Jewish Council of Australia's construction of 'Dutton's Jew' resurrected an old Fascist prejudice by

Times of Israel, 2025

In January 2025, a representative of the fringe Left Jewish Council of Australia (hereafter JCOA)... more In January 2025, a representative of the fringe Left Jewish Council of Australia (hereafter JCOA) presented a strange satirical paper titled 'Dutton's Jew' at a Queensland University of Technology Symposium (Yim 2025). The paper included a slide of a man dressed in a superman cape labelled DJ who allegedly held right-wing values critical of immigrants, Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims and political progressives, yet oddly framed AntiSemitism as the only form of racism that was unacceptable. That slide reflected JCOA's binary view of the world according to which all progressives are humanitarian supporters of the oppressed, and all conservatives are evil oppressors, so irrespective of their lived experience of arguably the oldest form of racial hatred, Jews should feel obliged to align with the supporters of the oppressed even if that paradoxically means partnering with some of the worst contemporary perpetrators of anti-Jewish racism.

The strange phenomenon of Jewish Anti-Zionism: Self-hating Jews or protectors of universalistic principles? By

Australian Journal of Jewish Studies, 2015

German Nazis, left-wing Jews and home grown Antisemites: The Walter Gieseking Affair

Recorder, 2025

Settler colonialism Kirsch book review

Times of Israel online blog, 2025

Inflammatory allegations that Israel was a settler-colonial state and hence politically illegitim... more Inflammatory allegations that Israel was a settler-colonial state and hence politically illegitimate have been around for a long time. Those allegations were most often voiced by supporters of the extremist Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement whom I would term rejectionists. That is, they were opposed to any conflict resolution strategy or formula that could potentially advance and reconcile the national rights of both Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs. Just as some ultra right-wing Jews pretended that the Palestinians were an invented or fake people that did not deserve any recognition, so these alibis of Palestinian ultra-nationalists (and in the case of Hamas, outright Islamo-fascists) insisted that Jews were not a real people and should simply be compelled to disappear by remote control.

Fitzroy North Melbourne 1979-

Prejudice in the academy: An analysis of the first parliamentary inquiry into Antisemitism in Australian universities

Fathom Online, 2024

In October 2024, the Australian Senate’s Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee (... more In October 2024, the Australian Senate’s Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee (Upper House of Parliament) released the report of their inquiry into Antisemitism at Australian universities.
The content of the submissions (and associated witness statements) to the completed inquiry can arguably be divided into three ideological categories that I have termed anti-racism, blaming the victim, and bystander. These three terms are adapted in part from an earlier report authored by the Federation of Ethnic Communities Councils of Australia

How the media framed the public debate on a second Melbourne injecting room

Monash University Lens, 2024

In April 2024, the Victorian Labor Party government decided not to introduce a second medically s... more In April 2024, the Victorian Labor Party government decided not to introduce a second medically supervised injecting room (MSIR) in Melbourne’s CBD.
This policy reversal was contentious for a number of reasons. Two official government reports recommended it, including the official review of the existing injecting room in the City of Yarra in 2023, and later the report by the former police commissioner Ken Lay.
Additionally, there was detailed evidence presented by the Lay report on the rise of overdose deaths and ambulance attendances in the City of Melbourne (COM) that suggested a strong need for a second injecting room.
The number of heroin-related overdose deaths in the City of Melbourne increased from nine in 2021 to 24 in 2022, which was the highest rate of deaths in Victoria. COM also had the second-highest rate of ambulance attendances for heroin overdoses after Yarra.
As part of an ongoing study of media reporting of the MSIR policy debate in Victoria, we examined media reports of the policy backflip. Our general research question was:
“How did the Australian media respond to the Victorian government’s decision to reject a second MSIR?”

Are Australian Jewish community organisations meeting Child Safe Standards in their policies? An exploratory desktop audit by Philip Mendes and Marcia Pinskier

Children Australia, 2024

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and the more recent Malka... more The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and the more recent Malka Leifer trial have both highlighted concerns about manifestations of child sexual abuse within the Australian Jewish community. Yet, to date, there has been no examination of how Australian Jewish organisations have responded to these concerns and, particularly, whether the child safe standards introduced at state and/or national level have been actively operationalised within their core policies and practices. This paper presents the findings of an exploratory desktop audit of the child safe policies of 10 de-identified Victorian Jewish organisations. Our findings suggest that they are, at least in principle, adhering to the 11 mandatory Child Safe Standards in Victoria and, in several cases, are also providing a specific religious and cultural rationale for prioritising child safety measures. Nevertheless, more research is required to ascertain whether the public policy statements (i.e. their intent) are being matched by action.

Farewell to Professor Bill Rubinstein by Philip Mendes

Australian Academy of Social Sciences Website, 2024

The prominent academic historian and scholar, Professor Emeritus William D. (Bill) Rubinstein, di... more The prominent academic historian and scholar, Professor Emeritus William D. (Bill) Rubinstein, died suddenly in Melbourne on the 1 st of July at the age of 76 years. Bill was born in Brooklyn on 12 August 1946, the elder of two brothers, both of whom became academics. His Polish-born father's family were Bundists (secular Jewish socialists), but his American-born mother was unusually for Jews a registered Republican, and also a strong Anglophile. Her passion for British history and conservative politics were strong influences on Bill's life trajectory. Bill and his wife of 56 years, the British-born historian, Dr Hilary Rubinstein, met just after the Six Day War of 1967 in a history class at Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania, where Hilary was an international exchange student and Bill a fourth-year history undergraduate and also President of the student Conservative Club. Bill completed his postgraduate study attaining MA and PhD degrees at John Hopkins University in Baltimore where his professorial supervisor complimented his high scholastic output by remarking that 'he had enough energy for 10 men'. He then worked as the London-based researcher on a Lancaster University history project. In 1976, Bill moved with Hilary and their baby son Paul to Canberra where he worked on a project directed by Professor Frank Jones. In 1978, the family relocated to the brand new Deakin University in Geelong where Bill had attained a lectureship, and later held a personal Chair. Later in 1995, he accepted a Chair of History at the University of Wales in the seaside resort of Aberystwyth where he and Hilary increased the permanent Jewish population to three persons. They returned to Australia in 2013. Bill was a prolific researcher who authored over 20 books and hundreds of articles on a range of topics. He specialized in the examination of major British wealth holding and holders, and interrogated the changing political and ideological alignments of Jews in the modern world. He was also an activist intellectual. In Australia, Bill became involved in the pro-Israel advocacy group known as Australia/Israel Publications (AIP), actively partnering with the prominent journalist Sam Lipski and the Labor Party figure (later longstanding member for Melbourne Ports) Michael Danby. He also formed close associations with prominent Jewish community leader Isi Leibler and the iconoclastic conservative intellectual Frank Knopfelmacher. In partnership with Leibler, Bill played a key role in the formation of the Australian Institute for Jewish Affairs, a think tank which significantly advanced the intellectual and research output of Australian Jewry.

It is never acceptable for progressives to be bystanders on anti-Semitism by Philip Mendes: Address to Labor Party forum, 14 th

Australia has often been described as a golden land for Jews. That absence of any serious anti-Se... more Australia has often been described as a golden land for Jews. That absence of any serious anti-Semitic threat in Australia prevailed until the events of October 7, but no more. Much has been written about the unprecedented manifestations of populist anti-Semitism since the Hamas death squad massacre that have left Australian Jews feeling under siege.

"Zionists have no right to cultural safety": The Australian BDS movement's transition from racist 'anti-Zionism' to xenophobic anti-Semitism by Philip Mendes

Fathom Magazine, 2024

Since the October 7 Islamo-fascist death squad massacre, Australia has experienced an unprecedent... more Since the October 7 Islamo-fascist death squad massacre, Australia has experienced an unprecedented outbreak of anti-Semitism. Some of the more acute manifestations of this anti-Jewish xenophobia include the following: • Aggressive and threatening invasions of Jewish-populated suburbs in the cities of Melbourne and Sydney by pro-Palestinian mobs: https:// thejewishindependent.com.au/caulfield-and-coogee-anew chilling phase in -physicalhostility-to-jews; • The doxing (release of highly personal details online) of hundreds of Australian Jews who were participating in a private online group to combat anti-Semitism; and Jews being forced to leave workplaces and even residences due to ongoing threats and harassment: https://www.timesofisrael.com/post-oct-7-antisemitism-upends-anaustralian-jewish-community-with-holocaust-history/; • Jewish university students and academics being subjected to various forms of defamation, threats and hate speech by university-based encampments and associated forums, flyers and graffiti intended to exclude them from academic and public discourse: https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/when-does-a-protest-becomeintimidation; • A general atmosphere of McCarthyist intolerance towards Jews in key progressive communities-the arts, some trade unions, online journals such as Overland that have become uncritical sites for anti-Jewish hate speech, some sections of the media, the Australian Greens political party, sub-cohorts of some social science professionswhich is akin to that experienced by Communists and other leftists in the USA and Australia during the Cold War. The question 'Are you or have you ever been a Communist', which often disproportionately targeted Jewish leftists in the USA and other countries, has now been reframed to impose a political test on whether or not a Jewish person is to be defined and excluded as a 'Zionist'.

Learning from history: The Jewish Council(s) of Australia Part 2 by Philip

Times of Israel Blog, 2024

In a recent article, I explained how the views of the new anti-Zionist Jewish Council differed sh... more In a recent article, I explained how the views of the new anti-Zionist Jewish Council differed sharply from those of the former Jewish Council to Combat Fascism and Anti-Semitism (JCCFAS) which existed from 1942-70. I highlighted two particular contrasting perspectives of the JCCFAS: their active engagement with Jewish lived experiences of anti-Semitism from a range of sources, and their robust political support for Israel during the 1948, 1956 and 1967 Middle East wars. I also noted their tragic failure to name and condemn Stalinist anti-Semitism during the Cold War including their limited insight into the convergence between Soviet anti-Zionist and anti-Jewish rhetoric: https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-jewish-council-of-australia-how-can-they-learn-from-the-earlier-jccfas/.

The Malka Leifer case and Institutional child sexual abuse (ICSA) in the Jewish community: why did it happen, and how can ICSA be prevented in the future? ACJC Panel, Sunday 19 th May 2024

Not published, 2024

The Malka Leifer case and Institutional child sexual abuse (ICSA) in the Jewish community: why did it happen, and how can ICSA be prevented in the future? ACJC Panel, Sunday 19 th May 2024

The Jewish Council of Australia: how can they learn from the proud achievements and fatal political errors of the earlier Jewish Council to Combat Fascism and Anti-Semitism (JCCFAS)? by

Times of Israel Blog, 2024

In early 2024, a new left-wing Australian Jewish group called the Jewish Council was launched. Th... more In early 2024, a new left-wing Australian Jewish group called the Jewish Council was launched. The Council described itself as 'a diverse coalition of Jewish academics, lawyers, writers and teachers. We are experts on antisemitism and racism. We were formed in response to the rise in racism and antisemitism in Australia. We are particularly concerned about the rise in neo-Nazi activities, fascism and far right extremism'. According to the Council, it was comprised of 'academics, lawyers, teachers, writers and public policy experts'. They described their organisational structure as consisting of 'Council members as well as an advisory committee. We are independent and are all volunteers. We are all proud Jewish people. We are made up of graduates of Jewish high schools, lifelong members of synagogues, and members of Jewish cultural institutions. Many of us are the descendants of Holocaust survivors, refugees and the survivors of pogroms': https://www.jewishcouncil.com.au/ who-we-are.

ASIO chapter, presentation to book launch of Russians in Cold War Australia, 30 APRIL 2024

DRAFT ONLY Post October 7: the Jews and the Left -Masorti Synagogue Panel, Sunday April 7 th , 2024 by Philip Mendes