Jillian Segal

{{Short description|Australian lawyer and business executive}}{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Jillian Segal

| office = Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism in Australia

| order = 1st

| appointer = Anthony Albanese

| term_start = 9 July 2024

| governor-general = Samantha Mostyn

| minister = Andrew Giles

| birth_place = Johannesburg, South Africa

| education = University of New South Wales
Harvard Law School

| honorific_suffix = AO

}}

Jillian Shirley Segal {{post-nominals|country=AUS|AO}} is an Australian lawyer and business executive and Australia's Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism. She is known for her contributions on the boards of government, commercial and non-profit organisations.

Early life and education

Segal was born in Johannesburg.{{Cite web|title=Segal, Jillian Shirley|url=http://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/AWE5665b.htm|access-date=28 January 2022|website=The Australian Women's Register|language=en-gb|archive-date=28 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220128011252/http://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/AWE5665b.htm|url-status=live}} She is Jewish. Moving to Sydney, she completed her education at Kambala School in 1973. She then graduated from the University of New South Wales with a BA/LLB and won the University Medal in Law in 1979.{{Cite web|title=Jillian Segal AO '73|url=https://kogu.kambala.nsw.edu.au/nsw/kambala/uploads/Jillian%20Segal%20-%20final%20REVISED.pdf|access-date=25 January 2022|website=Kambala School|archive-date=25 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220125113334/https://kogu.kambala.nsw.edu.au/nsw/kambala/uploads/Jillian%20Segal%20-%20final%20REVISED.pdf|url-status=live}} Segal received an LLM from Harvard Law School.{{Cite web|title=Segal, Jillian|url=https://www.womenaustralia.info/lawyers/biogs/AWE5665b.htm|access-date=28 January 2022|website=Australian Women Lawyers as Active Citizens|language=en-gb|archive-date=26 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200826231944/http://www.womenaustralia.info/lawyers/biogs/AWE5665b.htm|url-status=live}}

Career

Segal's first job was associate to Sir Anthony Mason, judge in the High Court of Australia. She joined Allen, Allen and Hemsley as a senior associate and was promoted to partner, before leaving to serve as a commissioner and subsequently deputy chair of the Australian Securities & Investments Commission.

From 2003 to 2015 she was on the board of the Australian Securities Exchange and from 2004 to 2016 on the board of the National Australia Bank. She served on the Council of the Australian War Memorial from 2014 to 2017 and was deputy chancellor of the University of New South Wales from 2010 to 2019.

Since 2008 Segal has been chairman of the General Sir John Monash Foundation that administers the John Monash Scholarships.{{Cite web|title=Jillian S Segal AM|url=http://www.nab.com.au/about-us/our-business/board-of-directors/jillian-s-segal|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150914222331/http://www.nab.com.au/about-us/our-business/board-of-directors/jillian-s-segal|archive-date=14 September 2015|access-date=25 January 2022|website=National Australia Bank}} She has served on the board of the Sydney Opera House Trust since 2014.{{Cite web|title=Our People|url=https://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/content/soh/general/corporate-information/our-people.html|access-date=28 January 2022|website=Sydney Opera House|language=en|archive-date=28 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220128011252/https://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/content/soh/general/corporate-information/our-people.html|url-status=live}}

Segal was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2005 Queen's Birthday Honours for "service to business law in Australia, particularly in the areas of financial services reform and market regulation, and to the community through a range of organisations".{{Cite web|date=13 June 2005|title=Ms Jillian Shirley Segal|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1136028|access-date=28 January 2022|website=It's an Honour|archive-date=28 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220128011254/https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1136028|url-status=live}} She was promoted to Officer of the Order of Australia in the 2019 Australia Day Honours for "distinguished service to the banking and financial regulation sectors, to not-for-profit organisations, and to women".{{Cite web|date=26 January 2019|title=Ms Jillian Shirley Segal AM|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/2002459|access-date=28 January 2022|website=It's an Honour|archive-date=28 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220128011252/https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/2002459|url-status=live}}

As of 2022 Segal is a community representative on the Council for the Order of Australia.{{Cite web|title=Council for the Order of Australia|url=https://www.gg.gov.au/australian-honours-and-awardsorder-australia/council-order-australia|access-date=28 January 2022|website=The Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia|archive-date=21 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230321194901/https://www.gg.gov.au/australian-honours-and-awardsorder-australia/council-order-australia|url-status=live}} She has been a board member of the Garvan Institute since 2009.{{Cite web|date=26 January 2019|title=Officer (AO) in the General Division of the Order of Australia |url=https://www.gg.gov.au/sites/default/files/files/honours/ad/ad2019/xklw-03mcv/Media%20Notes%20-%20AO.pdf|url-status=dead|page=58|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190315005101/https://www.gg.gov.au/sites/default/files/files/honours/ad/ad2019/xklw-03mcv/Media%20Notes%20-%20AO.pdf|archive-date=15 March 2019|access-date=28 January 2022|website=The Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia }} She is also the immediate past president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ).{{cite news |last1=Narunksy |first1=Gareth |title=Sydney's Jewish community comes together in solidarity |url=https://www.australianjewishnews.com/sydneys-jewish-community-comes-together-in-solidarity/ |access-date=17 October 2023 |publisher=Australian Jewish News |archive-date=12 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231012082841/https://www.australianjewishnews.com/sydneys-jewish-community-comes-together-in-solidarity/ |url-status=live }}

On 11 October 2023 in a rally for Israel vigil after 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, Segal, then President of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, said "Our world has changed, the barbarians have breached the gates,"{{Cite web |date=11 October 2023 |title='Our world has changed': Thousands gather in Sydney for Israel vigil |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/our-world-has-changed-thousands-gather-in-sydney-for-israel-vigil/s467v44z7 |access-date=10 July 2024 |website=SBS News}}

= Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism =

On 9 July 2024, Segal was appointed for a term of three years Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism in Australia to the Australian Government by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.{{Cite news |date=9 July 2024 |title=Prime minister names Jillian Segal as first Australian anti-Semitism envoy |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-09/jillian-segal-named-anti-semitism-envoy/104074590 |access-date=10 July 2024 |work=ABC News |language=en-AU |archive-date=9 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240709133806/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-09/jillian-segal-named-anti-semitism-envoy/104074590 |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Wind |first=Emily |date=9 July 2024 |title=Australia news live: Albanese announces special envoy to combat antisemitism, says Jewish students 'worried' to wear school uniform |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2024/jul/09/attorney-general-national-press-club-money-laundering-drug-use-on-the-rise-anthony-albanese-peter-dutton-labor-liberal |access-date=9 July 2024 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=10 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240710111858/https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2024/jul/09/attorney-general-national-press-club-money-laundering-drug-use-on-the-rise-anthony-albanese-peter-dutton-labor-liberal |url-status=live }} The appointment came after campaigning by Jewish communal organisations to create a position to fight the rise in antisemitism post 7 October 2023.{{Cite news |last=Visontay |first=Michael |date=9 July 2024 |title=Jillian Segal appointed as first Australian antisemitism envoy |url=https://thejewishindependent.com.au/jillian-segal-appointed-as-first-australian-co-ordinator-combatting-antisemitism |work=The Jewish Independent}} Segal's appointment was praised by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the representative body of Australian Jewry,Rutland, S. D. (2013). The Asia-Pacific Region and Australian Jewry. Between Mumbai and Manila, 91. and received support from the federal Coalition.Sakkal, Paul (2024). [https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/albanese-shocked-by-ignorance-of-antisemitism-20240709-p5js6a.html Albanese shocked by ignorance of antisemitism]. The Sydney Morning Herald. 9 July 2024. Accessed 19 July 2024.{{Cite news |last1=Kelly |first1=Cait |last2=Wind |first2=Emily |date=10 July 2024 |title=Australia news live: Melbourne factory fire deemed under control; Greens and academics criticise appointment of antisemitism envoy |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2024/jul/10/australia-news-live-china-cyber-hack-albanese-wong-nato-marles-dutton-woolworths-coles-supermarkets-ndis |access-date=10 July 2024 |work=the Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=10 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240710105544/https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2024/jul/10/australia-news-live-china-cyber-hack-albanese-wong-nato-marles-dutton-woolworths-coles-supermarkets-ndis |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Evans |first=Jake |date=9 July 2024 |title=Prime minister names Jillian Segal as first Australian anti-Semitism envoy |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-09/jillian-segal-named-anti-semitism-envoy/104074590 |access-date=10 July 2024 |work=ABC News |language=en-AU |archive-date=9 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240709133806/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-09/jillian-segal-named-anti-semitism-envoy/104074590 |url-status=live }} The Jewish Council of Australia, a community group formed in February 2024 critical of the State of Israel, opposed Segal's appointment.[https://www.australianjewishnews.com/fringe-group-labels-jillian-segal-pro-war/ Fringe group labels Jillian Segal pro-war]. Australian Jewish News. Accessed 18 January 2025.{{Cite web |last=Wedesweiler |first=Madeleine |date=9 July 2024 |title=Anthony Albanese announces antisemitism envoy, says Jewish people 'do not feel safe' |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/anthony-albanese-announces-anti-semitism-envoy-says-jewish-people-do-not-feel-safe/fzso7fhdx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240710111858/https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/anthony-albanese-announces-anti-semitism-envoy-says-jewish-people-do-not-feel-safe/fzso7fhdx |archive-date=10 July 2024 |access-date=10 July 2024 |website=SBS News |language=en-AU}} Segal's statements and positions on antisemitism in Australia include the view that antisemitism at universities had become 'systemic'.{{cite news |last= Kolieb|first= Sharyn |date= 12 September 2024|title= Special envoy: Antisemitism at universities 'systemic'|url= https://www.australianjewishnews.com/special-envoy-antisemitism-at-universities-systemic/|work= Australian Jewish News|access-date=12 September 2024}} In January 2025, Segal criticised lenient sentencing for antisemitic offenses as a factor undermining efforts to address hate crimes against the Australian Jewish community, and called for mandatory sentencing for individuals attacking synagogues. Following an increase in attacks on synagogues and Jewish homes in the prior months, Segal called on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and state premiers to convene a national cabinet meeting. She argued that urgent action is required to implement tougher sentencing guidelines and ensure more consistent prosecution of antisemitic hate crimes.[https://www.theaustralian.com.au/dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theaustralian.com.au%2Fnation%2Fpolitics%2Fdemocracy-is-at-stake-sos-from-anthony-albaneses-antisemitism-envoy-jillian-segal%2Fnews-story%2F34625ef4e2fe50a25c15e5183c01329e ‘Democracy is at stake’: SOS from Anthony Albanese’s anti-Semitism envoy Jillian Segal]. The Australian. 15 January 2025.[https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/8866722/calls-to-consider-jail-time-as-anti-semitism-grows/?cs=27845 Calls to consider jail time as anti-Semitism grows]. The Canberra Times. 15 January 2025. In response, Anthony Albanese rejected both of Segal's requests, and stated that sentencing should be left to judges and that he would not need to convene a national cabinet as he discussed the matter with the premiers of Victoria and New South Wales.[https://www.theaustralian.com.au/dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theaustralian.com.au%2Fnation%2Fpolitics%2Fpm-rejects-envoy-jillian-segals-call-on-synagogues-sentencing%2Fnews-story%2F77d69bda5e6d72f8158726573a5b2a88 PM rejects envoy Jillian Segal’s call on synagogues, sentencing]. The Australian. 15 January 2025.