Australia mourns Bondi victims as government orders review of police

Australians held a minute’s silence at Bondi Beach as part of the national Day of Reflection, as Barnaby Papadopulos reports.

Thousands of mourners have gathered under tight police security at Bondi Beach to mark a week since two gunmen killed 15 people in one of the country’s worst mass shootings.

Australia’s Prime Minister has announced a review of police and intelligence agencies a week after 15 people were killed at Bondi Beach in one of the country’s worst mass shootings.

Sunday was declared a national Day of Reflection after a father and son opened fire at a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney.

Fifteen people, aged between ten and 87, were killed in the terrorist attack and 13 others remain in hospital.

More than 10,000 people gathered at Bondi Beach on Sunday night. / Credit: AP

More than 10,000 people attended the commemoration at Bondi Beach where a minute’s silence was held at the exact moment the first shots rang out.

The song “Waltzing Matilda” was also sung in memory of the youngest victim, Matilda, whose Ukrainian parents gave their Australian-born daughter what they described as the most Australian name they knew.

While a widely-claimed hero of the attack, Ahmed al Ahmed, sent a message of support from his hospital bed after he was shot trying to wrestle one of the gunmen.

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese gathered at a ceremony at Bondi Beach on Sunday. / Credit: AP

Among the attendees was Prime Minister Anthony Albanese who was booed by the crowd when he arrived.

Earlier in the day, Mr Albanese announced his department would examine whether federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies had the correct powers, structures, processes and sharing arrangements in place to keep Australians safe.

“The ISIS-inspired atrocity last Sunday reinforces the rapidly changing security environment in our nation,” he said.

“Our security agencies must be in the best position to respond.”

It comes after Australia’s main domestic spy agency, known as ASIO, had investigated one of the alleged gunman’s associates in 2016, but did not find he posed a threat.

A report will be delivered by the end of April 2026 and published.

Naveed Akram, 24, has been charged with 15 counts of murder and 40 counts of causing harm with intent to murder in relation to those wounded.

His father Sajid Akram, 50, was shot dead by police at the scene.

A makeshift memorial has been growing at Bondi since Sunday. / Credit: AP

Members of the Jewish community in Australia have said they felt “tragically, unforgivably let down” by government failures to combat a growth in antisemitism in Australia.

“There’s a lot of anger in the community now as well,” Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin said.

“I think we’re cycling through the various emotions, the various stages, and there’s a real feeling of having been let down and betrayed.

“And the community wants answers and we want change.”

Thousands of people gathered at Bondi Beach on Sunday for a ceremony where a minute’s silence was held at 6:47 PM, the moment the shooting began a week earlier.

Australians around the country have also been lighting candles to collectively commemorate the moment.

“Australians appreciate that this is an attack that wasn’t just against the Jewish people – we’re an easy target – but this is an attack on the Australian values and they will come here and they will stand together with us shoulder-to-shoulder as they have over the last week to tell the people in this country that there is no tolerance for hate,” Rabbi Levi Wolff said at the memorial.

“Violence has no place in our beautiful country.”

Security was bolstered in Bondi on Sunday during a national day of reflection. / Credit: AP

Security was ramped up around Bondi, including officers armed with rifles.

There were criticisms that the first police responders last week were armed only with Glock pistols, which did not have the lethal range of the assailants’ shotgun and rifles.

New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon assured the public that the increased police presence on Sunday was not in response to a heightened security alert but was “to honour the victims and support one another without fear”.

Floral tributes have been growing in Bondi to victims of Sunday’s terror attack. / Credit: AP

The state of New South Wales is also proposing to ban public displays of Islamic State group flags or extremist symbols in the wake of the shooting.

Under draft laws to be debated by the state Parliament, publicly displaying the IS flag or symbols from other extremist groups would be punishable by up to two years in prison.

An impromptu memorial, which has grown over the past week as flowers and heartfelt messages have accumulated to victims of the attack, is set to be cleared on Monday.