King’s Birthday Honours: Robin Cohen recognised for service to Perth’s Jewish community

Many people are completely unaware of the work done behind the scenes by Perth’s Community Services Group, which is dedicated to protecting the Jewish community.

And director Robin Cohen would rather keep it that way — even though it is his efforts to nurture the CSG for the past 30 years which have thrust it into the spotlight.

Mr Cohen has been recognised on this year’s King’s Birthday Honours list with a Medal of the Order of Australia for his service to the Jewish community of Perth.

News of his nomination came as such a surprise that he almost deleted the email, assuming it was spam.

“I was quite surprised, stunned when I got the email from the Governor General’s department,” he said.

The CSG provides a security service to members of the Jewish community in Perth, including security guards at venues and functions.

While it was unfortunate the community had to resort to setting up its own security systems, Mr Cohen said it provided a measure of comfort.

“We know our community, and we have a vested interest in looking after it,” he said. “And that’s not taking anything away from WA Police, who we have an awesome working relationship with.”

Over the years, the CSG had become more than just a security organisation .

During COVID-19 lockdowns it organised volunteers to help older people who could not leave their homes by delivering packages or doing their shopping.

Mr Cohen said demand for its security services has leapt in recent months, coinciding with a massive surge in anti-Semitic incidents.

Figures from the latest report by the Executive Council for Australian Jewry shows that WA reported 116 instances of anti-Semitism in WA between October 1, 2023, and September 30, 2024, up from just 25 the previous year.

Perth incidents reported during that time included a physical assault and verbal abuse of an identifiably Jewish boy who was called a “dirty Jew” and slapped in the face by a group of youths in Osborne Park.

Other instances included verbal abuse and graffiti of swastikas and offensive statements.

Mr Cohen said that since he first joined the CSG as a volunteer in 1992, before taking over its operations in 1996, it had grown from a small group to a large, professional operation.

“It constantly amazes me how it’s developed,” he said.

While the group has a number of paid employees as well as volunteers, Mr Cohen’s time is 100 per cent donated, on top of his day job as a finance broker.

He has also served as a member of the Jewish Community Council of WA and chaired the Perth Jewish Community Critical Incident Response Initiative.

“It’s just the way I was brought up,” he said of his voluntary service. “If it wasn’t this it would have been something else — I’m very community-focused.”