About ECAJ

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) is the peak body of the Australian Jewish community, representing and advocating for the community to government, in the community, and around the world.

The ECAJ is constituted by Australia’s state and territory Jewish communal roof bodies to represent and advocate for the Australian Jewish community at the national level. Together, we represent over 200 Jewish organisations across Australia.

Since our founding in 1944, we have led advocacy efforts for the Australian Jewish community.

Some of our early work advocated for the absorption of Jewish refugees into Australian society in the wake of the Holocaust as Australia took in the largest per capita intake of Holocaust survivors in the world outside Israel. 

Today, we advocate for our community to live safely and freely as Jewish Australians.

We fight against antisemitism wherever we find it, we defend the national rights of the Jewish people, and we strive to keep our community secure, strong, and vibrant.

Day-to-day, the ECAJ works on:

  • Protecting our religious freedoms to observe and practise Judaism in Australia.
  • Acquiring government funding for the Jewish community’s security needs and overseeing its allocation.
  • Monitoring and reporting incidents of antisemitism.
  • Securing compensation for Holocaust survivors.
  • Advocating for the national rights of the Jewish people and encouraging support for Zionism in Australia.
  • Liaising with the Federal government to stamp out child abuse.
  • Monitoring the content of school curricula in teaching about Israel and the Holocaust.
  • Supporting initiatives to commemorate the Shoah; remembering our wonderful Jewish ANZACs.
  • Providing support for the smaller Jewish communities outside of Sydney and Melbourne.
Subscribe to our weekly email newsletter to stay up to date with our work.

The ECAJ is governed by elected office bearers and its day-to-day work is carried out by a team of professional staff, led by co-Chief Executive Officers Peter Wertheim and Alex Ryvchin.

Chief executive officers

Peter has been involved with the ECAJ for nearly 30 years and is currently its co-CEO. Peter previously worked as a lawyer for 32 years, during which he acted as honorary solicitor for a number of charities in the Jewish and wider communities. Peter was one of the lawyers who acted for the ECAJ in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s in a series of racial vilification cases in the Federal Court of Australia.

Peter was the elected President of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies from 1996 to 2000.  In 2003 he was made a member of the Order of Australia for services to the Jewish and wider communities and for work in a variety of projects promoting communal harmony and understanding. From 2004 to 2015 Peter was a Statutory Board Member of the New South Wales Anti Discrimination Board, a State government body. In July 2010, Peter was appointed by the Australian Federal Government as a member of its Australian Multicultural Advisory Council and from 2011 to 2013 its successor body, the Australian Multicultural Council. He continues to be widely published and quoted in the media on a broad range of policy matters relating to freedom, democracy and social cohesion in Australia.

Alex Ryvchin was born in Kyiv, Ukraine. His family left the Soviet Union as refugees and refuseniks in 1987.

He attended Sydney Boys High School and studied law and politics at the University of New South Wales and practised at leading firms in London and Sydney.

He was awarded a prestigious Israel Research Fellowship to work as a research fellow and staff writer at a Jerusalem-based think-tank before joining the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, Australia’s premier representative and advocacy body for the Australian Jewish community, in 2013. He was promoted to co-Chief Executive Officer in February 2018, becoming one of the youngest leaders in the Jewish diaspora. He is a member of the Jewish Diplomatic Corps.

His children’s book, A New Day (2020) written during the Coronavirus pandemic to help families overcome adversity, was an international bestseller and rated by PBS as the top book to help kids navigate the pandemic.

He is the author of the critically acclaimed works, The Anti-Israel Agenda – Inside the Political War on the Jewish State (2017) and Zionism – The Concise History (2019). His fourth book, The Seven Deadly Myths: Antisemitism from the Time of Christ to Kanye West (2023) was shortlisted for the 2023 INDIES Book of the Year Award and investigates the extraordinary conspiracy theories behind antisemitism.

His advocacy and writing has seen him recognised as Australian of the Year for 2024 by The Australian newspaper, as one of 25 global Jewish visionaries by The Jerusalem Post and in the Daily Telegraph’s Power 100 for 2024.

Daniel is the President of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ).

He has previously held the roles of Honorary Secretary, Vice-President and Victorian Councillor of the ECAJ.

From 2021 to 2023, he served as President of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria, the roof representative body of the Victorian Jewish community. In 2013 and 2014, together with Nina Bassat AM and Harry Rosenberg, Daniel was a member of Maccabi Australia’s Committee of Review into member protection matters.

Professionally, Daniel is a barrister and King’s Counsel, practising in civil and commercial litigation. He has previously received the Ron Merkel KC award from the Victorian Bar for his pro bono advice and advocacy in respect of homelessness and elder law.

Daniel and his wife have three children who attend Jewish day schools.

Robert is a barrister practicing at the NSW bar and was appointed as Senior Counsel in 2000. He has held a number of leadership positions in the Jewish Community over the last 40 years. In 1988 he was awarded Membership of the Order of Australia for services to the Jewish Community. In 1994 he was awarded the Jewish Community Services: Communal Leadership Award and Outstanding Jew Award. In January 2020 he was decorated as an ‘Officer of the Order of Australia’ for distinguished service to the Jewish community through executive roles with educational, cultural and social welfare bodies.

On 26 November 2007 he was elected President of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the elected representative organization of the Australian Jewish community. On 26 January 2009 he was elected as a Vice President and member of the Executive Committee of the World Jewish Congress.

In addition he is currently active as Hon. Life Member of NSW Jewish Board of Deputies (since 1986) and Life Patron and Trustee of Moriah College (since 1999).

Anton has been involved in Jewish community work for over 27 years, including as part of B’nai B’rith Young Adults, as a co-convener and president of B’nai Mitzvot, on the board of management of the North Eastern Jewish War Memorial Centre Inc., as chairperson of the B’nai Brith Anti-Defamation Commission, as president of the St. Kilda Hebrew Congregation, and as an active member and conductor of his synagogue choirs.

In 1998, Anton joined the executive of the JCCV, and became president in 2005. During this time, he served as a Victorian Councillor on the ECAJ. In 2015, Anton was re-elected by the JCCV as a Victorian ECAJ Councillor, and in 2016, Anton was elected as the 19th president of the ECAJ.

When not working for the community, Anton is a partner at KCL Law (formerly Kliger Partners).

Peter is a Company Chairman and Director with many decades of experience in a range of commercial enterprises. He has served the Australasian Jewish community in a number of leadership positions over many years. He was previously active in a variety of organisations in New Zealand, including the NZ Zionist Federation and the NZ Jewish Council, which he chaired for a four-year term. He variously served first as Appeal Chairman and then President of the NSW Jewish Communal Appeal during the 1990’s and 2000’s. He is an Honorary Life Governor of JCA and a current trustee. He is currently the Chairman of the NSW Council for Jewish Community Security which has oversight over all communal security matters. This is Peter’s third term as ECAJ Honorary Treasurer, having previously served between 2007-2010 and 2013-2016. He has been a director of the ECAJ Harm Prevention Fund since 2010.

Jillian has held executive and non-executive positions in a variety of Australian corporations and across the financial sector. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Company Directors, Member of the Harvard Club of Australia, Member of Chief Executive Women and Founding Co-Chair, WomenCorporateDirectors (Australian Chapter). She is also a member of the Council of the Order of Australia.

After completing her Masters at Harvard Law School and working in a New York law firm, Jillian returned to Sydney to become a Senior Associate and later a partner at Allen, Allen and Hemsley in the corporate and environment fields.

She then went on to become a Commissioner and later Deputy Chair of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. After completion of her five year term she was a review member of the Dawson Review into the Trade Practices Act. In 2003 she set out to pursue a non-executive career and has held a range of corporate and government advisory board positions since then.

She was appointed the Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism in Australia in July 2024.

President
Daniel Aghion KC (VIC)

Deputy President
Robert M Goot AO SC (NSW)

Co-Chief Executive Officers

  • Peter Wertheim AM
  • Alex Ryvchin

Vice-Presidents

  • Philip Zajac (VIC)
  • David Ossip (NSW)
  • Geoff Midalia (WA)
  • Jason Steinberg (QLD)
  • Annetay Henderson-Sapir (SA)
  • Laurence Herst (TAS)
  • Athol Morris (ACT)
  • Vida Goodvach (NT)

Immediate Past President
Jillian Segal AO (NSW)

Honorary Secretary
Anton Block AM (VIC)

Honorary Treasurer
Peter Wise AM (NSW)

Honorary Life Members

  • Nina Bassat AM (VIC)
  • Josie Lacey OAM (NSW)
  • Grahame Leonard AM (VIC)
  • Rabbi Dr John Levi AM DD (VIC)
  • Sam Salcman (VIC)
  • Diane Shteinman AM (NSW)
Alex Masel 1945-1946
Saul Symonds 1946-1948
Maurice Ashkenasy CMG QC 1948-1950, 1954-1956, 1958-1960, 1962-1964, 1966-1968
Horace Newman 1949-1950
Ben Green 1950-1952
Hon Syd Einfeld AO 1952-1954, 1956-1958, 1960-1962, 1964-1966
Gerald Falk OBE JP 1968-1970
Nathan Jacobson OBE 1970-1972, 1974-1976
Louis Klein CBE 1972-1974
Joachim Schneeweiss AM 1976-1978, 1980-1982
Leslie Caplan AM 1985-1987, 1989-1992
Isi Leibler AO CBE 1978-1980, 1982-1985, 1987-1989, 1992-1995
Diane Shteinman AM 1996-1998
Nina Bassat AM 1998-2001
Jeremy Jones AM 2001-2004
Grahame Leonard AM 2004-2007
Danny Lamm 2010-2013
Robert Goot AM SC 2007-2010, 2013-2016
Anton Block 2016-2019
Jilian Segal AO 2019-2023

Constituents

The ECAJ is constituted by the peak state and territory bodies:

These bodies and their affiliates number over 200 Jewish organisations across Australia.

Affiliates

A number of national Jewish organisations are formally affiliated with the ECAJ:

Observers

Several Jewish organisations are formal observers:

Constitution

Download PDF (334kb)

Ethnic community partnerships

The ECAJ is a partner in:

Government partnerships

The ECAJ formally represents the Jewish community in the following government forums:

  • Human Rights consultations hosted by the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of the Attorney-General.

International partnerships

The ECAJ represents the Australian Jewish community in international forums, including:

See also

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