Australian Cohesion Forum

26/08/2026

Our full testimony on the Royal Commission:

On 20 August 2026, Australian Cohesion Forum gave evidence to the R...

26/08/2026

The Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion has just concluded, after 62 days of hearings and more than 20,000 submissions from right across Australia. Only ~200 witnesses were invited to give evidence in person and on 20 August, Cohesion Forum directors Roz Mendelle and Simonne Oberklajd Whine were 2 of them.

Full testimony here if you'd like to hear it in full. 🎥 https://youtu.be/fVKXPZSaSHc

In our testimony, we spoke about our partnership model - working with communities rather than just standing alongside them as an ally; and about the projects that model has produced, including the hate-reporting tool we've been developing with the Hindu community. We talked about our approach to who we work with: any community group willing to work together, so long as they don't call for or excuse targeted violence against another community.

Thank you to Devavrath Parasuram for testifying alongside us from the Hindu perspective, and to Kiran Sampathkumar and Sai Paravastu ji for all your support, and to every community and partner organisation who has done this work with us.

— The ACF Team

19/08/2026

We supported an incredible multicultural expo in Brisbane a few weeks ago. Thank you Bhartiya Samaj Brisbane for organising this event with over 80 ethnicities and nationalities represented. Our roz.mendelle MC'd the multicultural awards on the stage of City Hall!

20/07/2026

Full panel video is out! We were grateful to be hosted by WIZO Australia at the National WIZO Plenum. Thank you for hearing us - 4 such different communities, each with stories of survival against all odds. All working together and learning about each other for a safer and more inclusive Australia. Thank you to Hesam Orouji, Azin Naghibi, , Roz Mendelle and for your voices and honesty.

WIZO Australia National Plenum hosts Cohesion Forum - Roz Mendelle ...

06/07/2026

I didn't march with my Iranian sisters in 2022. I didn't even know they were marching. But when my family in Israel was attacked on October 7th 2023, the Iranians came to stand with us. The depth of the relationship we have built has meant the world to me. And now, I know, it is a two way street. We must stand with others in the same way we expect them to stand with us. Roz Mendelle (roz.mendelle ) Cohesion Forum co-founder discusses the importance of inter-cultural relationships at WIZO national plenum. WIZO Australia WIZO Victoria Azin Naghibi Hesam Orouji

03/07/2026

Honoured to have our director Azin Naghibi on the keynote panel at the WIZO Australia National Plenum 🎤

Azin is an Iranian former refugee and current community organiser, and she sat down with Druze, Jewish, Iranian and Indigenous Australian voices to discuss how communities under threat have to bond together to survive.

Facilitated by our co-founder roz.mendelle , alongside Mareshah Bowie , Hesam Orouji and Raid A.

Azin spoke about how her life changed after October 7, about Shani Louk and Nika Shakarami, and about finding real solidarity with the Jewish community at a time when her own government turned its back on her people.

01/07/2026

"Silence is complicit". Perry, an incredible Greek Australian, recorded testimony for our Living Archive recently. We wanted to post this bit, it moved us. Thank you Perry for your bravery and resilience.

29/06/2026

On June 21, International Yoga Day, diverse Australians gathered on Bondi Beach to practice Yoga together in honour of the victims and families of the Bondi terror attack. Jewish, Hindu, Persian and other Australians standing united, supporting each other, and showing strength in the face of extremism and fear. Padideh Fazelzadeh led a meaningful and beautiful meditation and practice. We are grateful we were able to support this event, organised by the incredible young leaders at Hindus Down Under Youth HEAR and Hindu Council of Australia . Cohesion is about participating actively in each others lives, standing together against adversity. Thank you to all who participated.

29/06/2026

Sharon Tal Sharon Tal, The Soul Alchemist sits with us to tell her story. She has personally experienced exclusion, rejection and harassment due to her Jewish ethnicity, but hasn't lost hope in the power of communities coming together. We are actively filming Living Archive testimony, to ensure everyone has a voice, regardless of media or government bias. J-United AU