Australia's Antisemitism Envoy, Jillian Segal, has distanced herself from revelations that a family trust linked to her husband made a large donation to the controversial conservative lobby group Advance Australia.

First reported on Saturday by independent media outlet The Klaxon, ASIC records show Segal's husband, John Roth, and his brother Stanley Roth — who co-own gelato chain Gelatissimo — are directors of Henroth Investments Pty Ltd. According to disclosures to the Australian Electoral Commission, Henroth Investments donated $50,000 to Advance Australia in 2023–24, lodged on behalf of the Henroth Discretionary Trust.

There is no suggestion Segal was aware of the donation, nor that it has affected her work as the federal government's antisemitism envoy.

Ms Segal, a prominent lawyer and the immediate past president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ), last week released a 20-page antisemitism report alongside Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

In a statement to The Age, Ms Segal said: "No one would tolerate or accept my husband dictating my politics, and I certainly won't dictate his."

"I have had no involvement in his donations, nor will I."

The Minister for Indigenous Australians was contacted by National Indigenous Times for comment.

On Monday, The Age reported Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke was highly critical of Advance, calling them an "appalling organisation, and those who fund it are not acting in the cause of social cohesion," but defended Ms Segal.

"But another of the forms of bigotry that we are fighting is misogyny, and there is no way I am going back to the 1950s and blaming a woman for the actions of her husband," he said.

Former NSW Labor premier and foreign minister Bob Carr said the donation should have been made public when Ms Segal was appointed to the envoy role last year.

"Ms Segal had a clear obligation when she was appointed to this job to declare that her husband's family trust funds a group called Advance, notorious for vilifying Palestinians and immigrant communities, even running a campaign against Welcome to Country," he said, as reported by The Age.

Henroth — named after property developer Henry Roth — has also donated to the Liberal Party. However, it is the significant donation to Advance, a group accused of racism during the Voice campaign, that has seen been most stark.

Formed as a right-wing counterpart to activist group GetUp, Advance was the highest-spending lobby group ahead of the 2025 election, with its influence especially felt during the 2023 Voice to Parliament referendum, which was defeated 61–39 per cent.

They have been supported by former shadow spokesperson for Indigenous Australians, Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, who praised Advance in an email to her supporters for "smashing the Greens" in the May's federal election.

Advance labelled the Voice "divisive" and claimed it "divided the nation by race". The group was accused of misrepresenting First Nations people, including Professor Irene Watson, Pro Vice Chancellor of Aboriginal Leadership and Strategy at the University of South Australia.

Furthermore, a July 2023 cartoon advertisement in the Australian Financial Review (AFR), authorised by Advance executive director Matthew Sheehan, drew widespread condemnation for using a "racist trope." The ad featured Yes campaigner Thomas Mayo, MP Kate Chaney, and businessman Michael Chaney.

Mr Mayo — who told National Indigenous Times last year the No campaign portrayed First Peoples as the "angry Black man who is here to take your backyard" — was depicted dancing for money in a red hammer-and-sickle T-shirt for a girl in a teal dress seated on her father's lap.

The ad was slammed by Ms Chaney, who said it stoked "fear and hate," while former NSW Liberal MP Matt Kean described it as "a throwback to the Jim Crow era of the deep south." The Australian Financial Review later apologised.

Advance has also targeted Welcome to Country ceremonies, calling them "about delegitimising your place in the country," and claiming elites are trying to "delegitimise Australia's history".

Earlier this year, The Klaxon revealed Brett Ralph — co-owner of the Melbourne Storm — had donated $275,000 to Advance. Mr Ralph, who owns a 20 per cent stake in the club, made at least six donations to Advance through his private company, JMR Management Consultancy Services, according to Australian Electoral Commission records.

The donations totalled at least $275,000 since Advance was established in 2018. His support for the No vote was scrutinised by then-Melbourne Storm supporter and prominent Yorta Yorta rapper and entertainer, Adam Briggs, who later withdrew his longtime support for the club.

The link was revealed only days after the Storm abruptly cancelled a Welcome to Country ceremony on ANZAC Day moments before it was due to take place. Wurundjeri Elder Aunty Joy Murphy Wandin and the Indigenous dance group Djirri Djirri were informed at the last minute, shortly before they were due to perform, resulting in heavy criticism and the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service withdrawing its support for the club.

Several leading Jewish organisations — including the ECAJ, the Australasian Union of Jewish Students, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, and the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies — supported the Voice. Mark Leibler, national chairman of the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council, co-chaired the Referendum Council that produced the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

Immigration minister Tony Burke has falsely claimed Jillian Segal "has said she didn't know about" the $50k given to Advance from her own family trust.

Segal hasn't said this.

He also suggests it's not Segal's money - but her husband's - despite them married over 40yrs. Sexist?

— Anthony Klan (@Anthony_Klan) July 14, 2025

Meanwhile, the ongoing war in Gaza has created divisions among Indigenous Australians.

Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe has been sharply critical of Israel, accusing the Albanese government in March of being "complicit in genocide in Gaza," whilst both Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service and the Aboriginal Legal Service NSW/ACT have also expressed their solidarity with the Palestinian causes last year.

By contrast, former Olympian and Labor senator Nova Peris — who National Indigenous Times previously revealed had shared Islamophobic content on social media — has strongly supported Israel, and argued that the Indigenous flag and slogans have been misused at pro-Palestinian rallies.

On Monday, the Lebanese Muslim Association (LMA) — one of the most influential Muslim bodies in Australia — called for Ms Segal's resignation, arguing in a statement her position has become "untenable" and that "Australians are expected to manage conflicts of interest far less direct than this".

"This isn't about dictating a spouse's politics. It's about credibility, accountability and public trust," LMA said.

"Segal cannot credibly lead efforts against antisemitism while remaining silent about – or benefiting from – the funding of organisations that fuel other forms of racism and bigotry."

This article was updated on Tuesday, July 15, to include comments from Tony Burke and Bob Carr.