The death toll of the horrific Bondi terror attack has risen to at least 16 people, including a 10-year-old schoolgirl, with fears the number of victims will continue to grow. Sky News Australia has rolling coverage of the tragedy.
Australia suffered its worst mass shooting since 1996 on Sunday after Sajid, 50, and Naveed Akram, 24, murdered 15 innocent people and seriously injured more than 40.
The father-son attackers opened fire upon innocent people attending a Hanukkah event during a roughly 10-minute killing spree at Bondi Beach on Sunday.
As of Tuesday, the death toll has held at 16, including gunman Sajid, with 25 hospitalised victims, of which six are in critical condition, while another person has been discharged.
Bondi terror attack suspect conscious in hospital after waking from coma
The alleged gunman who survived the Bondi Beach terror attack is conscious in hospital after being in a coma, 9News understands.
Naveed Akram, 24, and his father allegedly carried out Sunday’s horrific attack that has seen at least 15 innocent people murdered and more than 40 others seriously injured.
His father died in the incident, while Akram was taken to hospital in a coma.
Charges over the massacre are still yet to be laid.
It comes after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday was asked if Akram was not yet able to be questioned due to him being in a coma, telling ABC’s 7.30 program “we understand that that is the advice that I’ve received”.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke had earlier revealed that Akram was born in Australia in 2001 while his terrorist father Sajid Akram, killed during the attack, entered the country on a student visa in 1998 before transferring to a partner visa in 2001.
Tenth victim identified as Jewish woman Edith Brutman
The tenth victim of the Bondi Beach terror attack has been identified as Edith Brutman, a Jewish woman from the Eastern Suburbs.
Brutman was a key figure at B’nai Brith, the NSW branch of the international Jewish community service organisation, where she was the vice president of an anti-prejudice and anti-discrimination committee.
“Former vice president of ADU and long-time member of Aviv, Edith Brutman, was killed in the massacre. She was a gracious woman and a devoted member of B’nai B’rith NSW,” B’nai Brith confirmed in a statement.
President of the Alfred Dreyfus committee, Ernie Friedlander, said Brutman was a “very clever lady” who was “very passionate” and had “strong opinions”.
The confirmation of Brutman’s death comes after another beloved member of Sydney’s Jewish community, Marika Pogany, was identified as one of the 15 innocent victims killed.
The 82-year-old was a member of the Jewish seniors’ volunteer service Sydney COA, which described her as a “truly remarkable and wonderful woman”.
“For 29 years, she arrived at COA with her quiet smile and her steady kindness. She lifted the room simply by being in it. She asked for nothing and gave everything. She showed us what true service looks like, and she did it without fanfare and without ever wanting attention,” it said.
Pogany also won an award for delivering more than 12,000 kosher meals on wheels since the late 1990s.
The confirmations of Brutman and Pogany’s deaths come after Reuven Morrison, Dan Elkayam, Matilda, Rabbi Eli Schlanger, Rabbi Yaakov Levitan, Alex Kleytan, Tibor Weitzen and Peter Meagher were the first victims identified in the 24 hours after the shooting.
Bondi Beach terror attack inspired by Islamic State
The Australian Federal Police has confirmed the terror attack was inspired by Islamic State, after two ISIS flags were found in killer Naveed Akram’s car.
AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett provided the latest update at a press conference on Tuesday, confirming links to the Islamic State
“Early indications point to a terrorist attack inspired by Islamic State, allegedly committed by a father and son,” Ms Barrett said.
“These are the alleged actions of those who have aligned themselves with a terrorist organisation, not a religion.”
NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon also confirmed that the two gunmen had been in possession of two homemade ISIS flags.
“We continue to work through the motive of this tragedy. And we’ll continue to do so. This is a very complex investigation,” Mr Lanyon said.
The Australian also uncovered links between Naveed and Islamic State through his connection to jihadist preacher Wissam Haddad.
Haddad was found to have breached racial hatred laws in 2023 when he described Jews as “vile” and “treacherous” in the wake of the October 7 attacks.
In a resurfaced video from 2019, Naveed could be seen handing out pamphlets for a movement linked to Haddad, in which he said: “Allah will reward you for whatever actions you do in his cause.”
“Inshallah, this will save you on the day of judgement when everyone will be asking where’s the hope, this will come to you on the day of judgement,” Naveed said.
It was also revealed on Tuesday that the father-son attackers had travelled to the Philippines in November, where Islamic State East Asia has been known to hold a presence.
The Philippines has been a breeding ground for Islamic militancy and was ranked 19th in the world in the latest Global Terrorism Index.
It also served for years as a training base for Abu Sayyaf, which was responsible for attacks on Australians, including the Bali Bombings and Australian Embassy bombing.
“The reasons why they went to the Philippines, and the purpose of that, and where they went when they were there, is under investigation at the moment,” Mr Lanyon said.
In response to the attack, police have ramped up Operation Shelter, providing patrols around Jewish places of worship and key locations in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
‘You can’t legislate people’s hearts’: John Howard
In response to the horrific terror attack on Sunday, the Albanese government has since announced it will seek to reform national gun laws in Australia.
However, former prime minister John Howard blasted the reaction, accusing the government of using gun reform as a political diversion.
Mr Howard said the central issue exposed by the terror attack was not firearms regulation but antisemitism, and he laid responsibility at the feet of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
He warned the government’s sudden focus on tightening gun laws risked becoming an excuse to avoid confronting what he described as its deeper moral failure.
“We’ve now been treated to the big attempt at a diversion, changes to gun laws now,” Mr Howard told Sky News on Tuesday.
“You can’t legislate people’s hearts… They (Australian Jews) want leaders who not only say the right things, but mean what they say.”
Mr Howard became renowned for overhauling national firearm laws within 12 days of the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, which cost 25 victims their lives.
He accused Mr Albanese of political equivocation in his response to the Bondi Beach attack, describing him as having been “Mr Yes, but maybe” on antisemitism.
“Part of the criticism I have of this government is that it’s backfilled and filled,” Mr Howard said.
“If he’d have shown a little more determination from the beginning … perhaps some of the antisemitism that has spread over the last couple of years would not have.”
Mr Howard said the Jewish community had been badly let down, arguing its anger and frustration over the Bondi Beach massacre was inevitable.
“The Australian people are not stupid. They can work out a phoney. They can work out when they’re being treated to weasel words,” Mr Howard said.
“I’m not going to malign his (Mr Albanese) character and everything on, but he’s let the Jewish community down on this.”
Mr Howard said the government’s failure to respond to the recommendations of antisemitism special envoy, Jillian Segal, showed a lack of seriousness.
“Jillian Segal, the Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism, had a report, I believe, that was presented five months ago and it hasn’t been enacted yet,” he said.
“If it hasn’t been enacted then the Prime Minister certainly must do something about it if he agrees with the recommendations,” he said.
“It sounds to be all of a piece with this ‘yes but maybe’ approach that the Prime Minister has to this issue and that’s not good enough.”
Labor neglects antisemitism envoy’s report
Mr Albanese convened a National Cabinet meeting in the aftermath of the terror attack on Monday, but did not raise the antisemitism report published by Ms Segal.
The Australian revealed that Mr Albanese had an “almost singular focus” on gun reform, neglecting the broader issue of antisemitism.
Sources have since told Sky News that Queensland Premier David Crisafulli and one other state premier raised concerns about the lack of focus to address antisemitism.
According to a leaked document, only one paragraph of the National Cabinet’s draft outcomes focused on the issue of antisemitism.
That draft document had referenced an “evil terror attack” before a subsequent update was amended to say an “evil antisemitic terror attack”.
Asked specifically if he had raised Ms Segal’s plan to combat antisemitism, Mr Albanese claimed he had.
“We referenced the ongoing work including the national hate crime as an incident database,” he said.
“We have taken the report from the antisemitism envoy and what we are doing is busy implementing it. We talked about that yesterday.”
Segal says govt should make ‘formal statement’ on antisemitism report
However, Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism, Ms Segal told Sky News she was looking to the government to make a formal statement on its implementation of her plan.
Ms Segal published her “Plan to Combat Antisemitism” in July 2025, but the government has not yet committed to all of its recommendations.
“To date, my view is that they’re not working well enough, and we need additional law reform,” Ms Segal told Sky News on Tuesday.
“I think now the community is sufficiently concerned and anxious about this, that there should be a formal statement about the implementations.
“We have to rid our country of this scourge of this hatred, an ancient hatred that’s been allowed to become normalised in parts of our society.”
Albanese outlines gun law reform
Mr Albanese said that his National Cabinet had discussed efforts to “stamp out” antisemitism and to strengthen gun laws during their meeting on Monday.
He outlined considerations including limiting the number and type of guns that people can own and whether gun ownership should require Australian citizenship.
He did not mention any specific policy-based efforts to eliminate antisemitism but said he was “absolutely committed” to working with Australian Jewish organisations.
The state and federal governments also agreed to accelerate work on establishing National Firearms Registers.
“This is an agreement that we reached through the National Cabinet at the end of 2023,” Mr Albanese said.
“We’ve provided over $160 million to do that, including in that over $100 million to states and territories.
“For some states and territories, they still have paper records. And that obviously makes it impossible to check across boundaries in a quick and efficient manner.
“The digitisation that is required, we’ve agreed to accelerate that. We will continue to engage.”
Surviving gunman expected to be charged imminently
The father of the father-son terror attackers was killed at the scene of the mass murder on Sunday, while his son Naveed has been taken to hospital in a coma.
Naveed Akram will likely be charged by authorities if he survives his injuries but, as of Tuesday, police continue to treat him as a suspect.
Daily Telegraph crime editor Mark Morri told Sky News the police were “getting ready to potentially charge” the 24-year-old.
Authorities have begun examining whether the father and son’s actions were influenced by foreign actors, possibly linked to a hostile power like Iran or ISIS.
“This has obviously been something that maybe has been orchestrated by what they call foreign actors – Iran or other powers like that – that actually have an agenda against the Jewish people,” Mr Morri said.
The government recently expelled the Iranian Ambassador following “credible evidence” that Iran had orchestrated multiple antisemitic attacks in Australia.
Police raided Campsie Airbnb which may have been shooters’ base of operations
Police raided an Airbnb in the Sydney suburb of Campsie in the hours after the Bondi Beach attack, which may have been used by the Akrams as a base of operations.
Heavily armed police also stormed an address in Bonnyrigg late on Sunday night in connection with the shooting, before later moving on to the Airbnb around midnight.
Sajid Akram had a firearms licence and owned six guns, all of which were seized on Sunday across both addresses and at Bondi Beach.
Burke heckled during appearance in Bondi
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke was given a hostile reception as he made an appearance in Bondi on Monday evening.
Mr Burke was present at a memorial for those who lost their lives in the horrific terror attack.
In footage captured by Sky News Australia, other attendees could be heard chastising the Minister with shouts of “Shame on you”.
One man was also heard yelling: “Blood on your hands, Tony Burke”.
The Albanese government has faced heavy criticism over its handling of antisemitism in the wake of the October 7 attacks on Israel, with the Bondi shooting prompting a fresh outpouring of anger.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also claimed the government bears responsibility for Sunday’s tragedy, arguing it failed to heed his warnings about the threat of violence.
Heroes in hospital
Several heroes have emerged from the tragedy, including police and civilians who rushed to help others during the terror attack.
Sydney shop owner Ahmed al Ahmed has been hailed as a hero after he confronted one of the gunmen and seized his weapon.
Ahmed was later shot and has been admitted to hospital with serious injuries.
NSW Premier Chris Minns and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have both visited the hero in hospital.
Two police officers, Constable Scott Dyson and Probationary Constable Jack Hibbert, have also been hospitalised with injuries suffered while responding to the attack.
Many other heroes from the tragedy, including ambulance staff, doctors, first responders, lifeguards and volunteers have also been praised.
CEO of NSW Life Saving Steven Pearce told Sky News that the response from lifesavers and first responders at the scene was “amazing”.
“As the shooting unfolded, we had lifesavers from the Bondi club run out into gunfire trying to get the children out of the playground back into safety,’ he said.
“Then other groups of lifesavers went out and commenced CPR on a lot of the victims that had been shot trying to shield them.”
Injured officer may lose vision as families of wounded police release statement
One of the two New South Wales Police officers wounded during the Bondi terror attack may lose vision, as the families of both men released a heartfelt statement.
Probationary Constable Jack Hibbert has undergone surgery at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital on his shoulder and eye, but there is a chance he may still lose his sight.
He and the other injured officer, Constable Scott Dyson, remain in a serious but stable condition.
Their families released a statement on Monday evening, expressing their “gratitude to all first responders” who rushed to the scene as the tragedy unfolded.
“The families of the two injured officers wish to pass on their thoughts to the loved ones of those who were killed and injured in the Bondi shooting tragedy,” the statement said.
“They also want to express their heartfelt gratitude to all first responders who acted with courage, in particular the police officers and paramedics who responded. They also wish to thank their hospital team, and especially those in ICU.
“They thank the community for their support but have asked for privacy as their loved ones focus on recovery and healing.”
Twenty-four in hospital
NSW Health has provided an update on the victims who remain in hospital as of midday, Tuesday.
Two patients are in a stable condition at Prince of Wales Hospital. One patient is in a critical but stable condition, and one patient is in a stable condition at St George Hospital. One patient is in a stable condition at Sydney Eye Hospital. Two patients are in a critical condition, two patients are in a critical but stable condition and one patient is stable at St Vincent’s Hospital. One patient is in a critical condition, two patients are in a critical but stable condition and three patients are stable at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. Three patients are in a stable condition at Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick. Three patients are in a stable condition at Royal North Shore Hospital. Two patients are in a stable condition at Liverpool Hospital. NSW Premier encourages blood donation
Premier Chris Minns has continued his call for NSW residents to volunteer to donate blood on Tuesday.
There has so far been a fivefold increase in the number of blood donations since the attack, with more than 50,000 appointments made.
“I’d say to the people of New South Wales – don’t give up. If you haven’t got an appointment, if you can’t get in immediately, we require your blood,” he said.
“To put this in perspective, for somebody in trauma, they may need 100 individual donations to save their life. This is an urgent priority.”
Nation mourns victims
At least eight of the 15 innocent victims gunned down in the terror attack at Bondi Beach have been identified.
The victims ranged from 10-year-old girl, Matilda, to 87-year-old holocaust survivor Alex Kleytman.
Rabbi Eli Schlanger, Rabbi Yaakov Levitan, rugby volunteer Peter Meagher, French national Dan Elkayam, Soviet Union migrant Reuven Morrison, 78-year-old Tibor Weitzen and 82-year-old Marika Pogany, were also murdered in cold blood.
Israeli Ambassador calls for urgent response to antisemitism after years of warnings
Israeli Ambassador to Australia Amir Maimon has called for urgent change to keep Australian Jews safe, following years of warnings about antisemitism.
“For the last four years, I was very clear … about the dangers of the rise in antisemitism,” Mr Maimon said at Bondi Beach on Tuesday.
“In my public statements, I mentioned and I shared my concerns about the rise after October 7 in particular.
“What can one expect when it is painted all over Australia on synagogues and public buildings, calling for the death of Israel, death to the IDF, and then cars are put on fire?”
Mr Maimon said he hoped “necessary measures”, such as education campaigns, would be implemented to protect Australians of the Jewish faith.
“I am not here to point fingers. I am here to embrace and hug the community, the Australian citizens that care about life here.”
Government announces gun law reform options in wake of massacre
The government has unveiled a series of firearms law reform options to be investigated across state and federal jurisdictions in the wake of Sunday’s Bondi Beach massacre following a national cabinet meeting on Monday.
A statement from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said leaders had agreed to “strengthen gun laws across the nation”, with police ministers and attorney-generals being commissioned to “develop options” including:
Accelerating work on standing up the National Firearms Register Allowing for additional use of criminal intelligence to underpin firearms licencing which can be used in administrative licencing regimes Limiting the number of firearms to be held by any one individual Limiting open-ended firearms licencing and the types of guns which are legal, including modifications Making a condition of obtaining a firearm license holding Australian citizenship
It comes after Mr Albanese convened a national cabinet meeting with state Premiers and territories Chief Ministers.
The national security committee – made up of senior government ministers and members of ASIO and federal police – met earlier on Monday.
Opposition says government must address antisemitism
The federal opposition has warned that the government needs to address the issue of antisemitism as a priority over gun law reform.
“We can make changes to immigration law. We can embark on gun law reform. But if we’re not dealing with antisemitism, which this government is not, we will never stamp this out,” Mr Duniam said.
“What’s more, the reports that the intelligence and law enforcement authorities are under-resourced and there should have been things they were able to do but for the lack of resources is concerning.
“I think there is a lot to be concerned about here. Gun law reform, which is the government’s big response to this, goes so far… but there’s a lot more this government’s not doing.”
Mr Duniam added that the opposition was open to supporting gun reform but needed to see the details.