Mammoth cost of post-Bondi policing revealed

The bill for round-the-clock policing of high-risk locations and events has surged tenfold following the Bondi Beach terror attack, surpassing $50 million.

NSW Police expenditure data, obtained by the Herald under freedom of information laws, reveals Operation Shelter’s annual expenditure rose from $4.1 million when it was established two years ago to $41.8 million in the 2025/26 financial year.

In the 10 months since December last year, when the attack occurred, the cost has risen to a new high of $53.7 million. It’s driven by the cost of high-visibility boots on the ground at locations such as places of worship, schools and community hubs, with almost 97 per cent of the total coming from police-related expenses, including shifts, overtime, penalties and allowances.

The revelation comes as NSW Police on Sunday launched its Armed Response Command, a permanent rapid response team that carry long arm assault rifles and will gradually replace Operation Shelter.

NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley said it was “a sensible response” to keep the community safe. “On the back of Bondi, our world changed forever,” she said. “That’s just the truth of it, right across this country. And I said that at the time, we will never be the same again.”

With an establishment cost of $94.3 million covering IT, vehicles and weapons, the ARC’s operational budget is not known. “We will absorb the cost,” Catley said. “There is absolutely no doubt about that, and we’re not concerned about it whatsoever.”

The ARC, which will focus on tourist hotspots as well as places of worship and major events, will grow to 250 officers over the next year. It was developed after a NSW Police delegation travelled to the UK and Germany to study their rapid response models.

Operation Shelter was first established in response to rising antisemitism and Islamophobia after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel in 2023. Its remit included intelligence gathering, monitoring large protests, protecting places of worship and providing security at crowded public places.

Australia’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism Jillian Segal endorsed police resourcing since the terror attack in an interview with this masthead last week.

“I think that we’ve had an enormously strong response from the police, from both AFP and from state police, putting in place special teams,” she said. “There’s strong understanding now of how antisemitism can lead to further violence, further hatred, undermining our democracy, that threatens everyone.”

Fifteen people were killed when father and son Sajid and Naveed Akram opened fire with high-powered firearms from a Bondi Beach footbridge on December 14 last year. Most victims were Jewish, attending Chanukah by the Sea celebrations.

Announced off the back of pro-Palestinian protests at the Opera House in 2023, Operation Shelter was wound back in 2025 to focus on protests only, it emerged at the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion in May.

This meant it sent no officers to last year’s Chanukah event, which was instead attended by three roaming general duties officers and a supervisor armed with service pistols.

Aside from police staffing, other costs of Operation Shelter include the employment of public servants, subsistence and transport and investigation expenses.

These costs do not include additional layers of protection provided by the Australian Federal Police and private security, such as the Jewish organisation Community Security Group. A proposal to allow volunteer members of CSG to be armed at public religious events is under consideration by the Minns government.

In this year’s federal budget, more than $600 million was allocated to initiatives in response to the Bondi terror attack, including $68.8 million for the AFP’s national security investigations teams and $124 million to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry for community security enhancements.

NSW’s gun buyback, introduced in response to the Bondi terror attack, commences on Monday. Catley said all appointments had been booked out at the six police stations accepting surrendered weapons.

Planning is under way for commemorative events to mark the first anniversary of the attack next month in Bondi, including a Chanukah remembrance ceremony and a dawn lowering of the flags by Surf Life Saving NSW.

The ARC’s commander, Detective Superintendent Andrew Evans, said on Sunday that officers would attend anniversary events next month.

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