Senior staff members of Australia’s National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA), a taxpayer-funded body, have been linked to online activity endorsing and celebrating the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, which killed nearly 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians. A submission to the Royal Commission on Anti-Semitism and Social Cohesion, obtained by media outlets, alleges that key figures within NAVA engaged in social media posts that questioned Jewish safety concerns and expressed anti-Zionist sentiments, raising concerns about a potentially hostile environment for Jewish artists within the Australian visual arts sector.
The submission highlights that in 2025, on the second anniversary of the Hamas assault, Leya Reid, then communications and advocacy manager at NAVA, reposted an image from Instagram depicting a vehicle on fire with the phrase “Long Live October 7” in both English and Arabic. Reid’s social media activity also reportedly included sharing video footage resembling Hamas paragliders. Reid held her position at NAVA while the association received approximately $400,000 annually from government grants.
Further allegations focus on another senior figure, Sophia Cai, who was NAVA's deputy chair from May 2024 until June 2026 and later appointed artistic director and CEO of Canberra Contemporary. The submission claims Cai publicly supported pro-Palestinian activism, including a December 2024 Instagram post dismissing concerns over Jewish safety as a “reactionary Zionist dogwhistle.” It also notes Cai’s practice of screening artists’ political views for alignment with pro-Palestinian positions before offering professional opportunities.
The report draws attention to a controversial manifesto by illustrator Matt Chun (legal name Matthew Jones), titled “We Don’t Mourn Fascists,” which criticized public mourning following the Bondi Beach mass shooting in 2023 and characterized the victims, including children, as affiliated with a “Zionist Jewish-supremacist organisation.” The manifesto triggered a police investigation, which concluded no prosecution was warranted. Chun’s publisher canceled his contract, and book retailer Dymocks removed his works following the backlash.
Reid, Cai, and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra pianist Jayson Gillham—who lost a Federal Court case alleging discrimination for his political views—were among those who expressed support for Chun’s manifesto on social media. The submission contends that their activism contributed to an institutional culture within NAVA that marginalized Jewish Australians and normalized anti-Zionist rhetoric.
In 2024, Reid was arrested during a protest at a steel manufacturer accused of supplying Israel’s defense forces but had her charges dismissed. Cai, meanwhile, reportedly endorsed circulating leaked private communications from a Jewish creatives’ group, claiming it exposed attempts to silence pro-Palestinian voices.
The submission also details protests in July 2025 targeting the National Gallery of Victoria because of its association with Jewish philanthropist Pauline Gandel. Demonstrators accused the gallery of supporting “Zionism” and used slogans equating it with fascism. Victoria’s premier Jacinta Allan condemned the protests as extremist and antisemitic. Prior to these events, Chun published critical articles urging escalation of protests against the gallery, which Cai reportedly helped circulate.
Additional social media activity linked to NAVA board members and staff included statements alleging genocide in Gaza carried out in Israel’s and Jewish people’s name, as well as visible support for pro-Palestinian causes during art events. The submission raised concerns that NAVA’s political activism was disproportionately focused on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, while avoiding commentary on other international human rights issues involving, for example, Sudan, China, or Iran.
The Royal Commission submission characterizes NAVA as a publicly funded institution that, from 2023 to 2026, operated as “an active participant” in sustained anti-Zionist advocacy, fostering an environment that some Jewish Australian artists found “structurally unsafe.” The controversy has prompted scrutiny of the intersection between political activism and cultural institutions in Australia’s arts sector.