A senior officer has acknowledged that a police incident database makes it difficult to provide a clear picture of the scale of antisemitism in the community.
High-ranking police have admitted a state data system does not properly capture antisemitic incidents.
The antisemitism royal commission has been told it is not mandatory to record whether a crime was motivated by anti-Jewish prejudice in Victoria Police’s main database.
Counter Terrorism Group acting commander Kelvin Gale on Wednesday agreed it was impossible to get an accurate picture of the scale of antisemitism in the community without a mandatory reporting mechanism.
“It’s problematic, no doubt,” Mr Gale said.
Officers can mention antisemitic intent in their narrative reports of incidents and record “Jewish” as a religious motivator for a crime, the inquiry was told.
Guidelines were sent to officers to stress the importance of accurate reporting, but no system reforms were being developed to change the data collection process, Mr Gale said.
“We acknowledge that within our system there are some things in there that we would like that may not be there,” he said.
However, Assistant Commissioner Chris Gilbert said Victoria Police remained in a “very strong position” to respond to threats motivated by prejudice.
“We have in our possession, in addition to the data we do have, other material which would actually help us, and it does … assess risk in order to deploy resources,” he said.
Earlier, the state’s police force was criticised for its response to an eruption of alleged antisemitic violence during protests in Melbourne.
About 56 complaints of antisemitism were made to organisers of the Never Again Is Now march after a violent clash with members of a weekly pro-Palestinian protest in Melbourne’s city centre on 19 May 2024.
Police formed lines to separate the groups of protesters and arrested six people.
However, there was a perception within the Jewish community that police “didn’t step in and didn’t do what was needed to be done”, Ms Levin said.
That continued at later pro-Palestinian protests, where Jewish groups were directed by police to leave the area before the rally came through, the inquiry heard.
“The police engagement was not sufficient to create a sense of safety,” Ms Levin said.
The royal commission was established after 15 people were killed and dozens more injured when two gunmen opened fire at a Chanukah event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on 14 December.
A community youth leader giving evidence on Wednesday said children were required to turn off location services on their devices and refrain from appearing outwardly Jewish at summer camps.
“It’s a security risk to have any Hebrew or any identifying symbols while we’re in public,” she said.
The woman, who gave evidence under a pseudonym, said children as young as eight had become distressed at Jewish community camps after the Bondi attack.
Hearings continue in Melbourne on Thursday.
By Eleanor Wilson/AAP