Record numbers of Jewish Australians are complaining of being verbally abused on their way to synagogues, a lobby group says.

There have been a total of 394 incidents qualifying as “racist violence” against Jews in the 12 months to September 30, says Jeremy Jones, director of community affairs at the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council.

“The total reports of all types of antisemitic racist violence was at five per cent above the 20-year average,” he said in a statement on Monday.

Mr Jones told the the annual meeting of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry in Sydney that reports of harassment and verbal abuse of Jews on their way to and from synagogue had reached a record high.

But he noted an encouraging decrease in racist graffiti, threatening telephone calls, hate mail, assault and vandalism.

There had, however, been a spike in offensive online content, he said.

 (Source: Sydney Morning Herald)