Former Australian of the Year Grace Tame has issued a public apology, nearly six months after she described reports of Hamas sexual violence against Israeli women during the October 7, 2023 attacks as "propaganda" and claimed they had been "debunked" — comments that triggered a significant wave of public complaints.

The Apology: What Grace Tame Said

Tame addressed the controversy in a video posted to her Instagram account on Thursday, acknowledging that her earlier remarks had been damaging and that she regretted not clarifying her position sooner.

"There is something I have wanted to clarify for a while, which I regret not clarifying sooner. I stand with survivors of sexual violence everywhere, no matter who they are," she said in the video.

Tame stated that her March comments on ABC Radio had been "misinterpreted" to suggest she disbelieved Israeli survivors of sexual violence — a characterisation she firmly rejected. She cited Human Rights Watch as being unable to find evidence to support claims that Israeli women were raped en masse on October 7, while simultaneously making clear she did not deny individual accusations of rape, including accounts of gang rape, made by Israeli women.

"I do not hate Israelis. I do not hate Jewish people. I abhor the crimes of the State of Israel," she said. "I believe Israeli survivors, I believe Jewish survivors, as I believe all survivors. While the intention of my remarks was not to imply otherwise, I acknowledge and sincerely apologise for any harm their mischaracterisation has caused."

The Original Comments That Sparked the Backlash

The controversy traces back to an ABC Radio Sydney interview conducted in March this year, during which Tame was asked about her involvement in a protest against Israeli President Isaac Herzog. When pressed to condemn claims relating to the October 7 attacks, she refused, framing the question itself as an attempt to derail her.

"I'm not going to sink to the level of entertaining any kind of propaganda," Tame said at the time. "Those things have been debunked. Look, violence is, let's be real, violence is happening on both sides. But this is not a fair fight."

She went further, suggesting that demands for her to condemn specific allegations were a tactic used by "bad faith actors" to trip up public figures. The remarks drew swift and widespread criticism, with many accusing her of dismissing the experiences of sexual violence survivors.

A Delayed Response to a Prolonged Controversy

The timing of the apology — posted to social media roughly six months after the original interview — has itself drawn attention. Tame acknowledged in the video that she had wanted to address the matter for some time and expressed regret that she had not done so earlier.

Throughout her public career, Tame has been a prominent advocate for survivors of sexual abuse, having built her profile as a campaigner against child sexual abuse following her own experience as a survivor. Her March comments were seen by many as a significant contradiction of that advocacy, given they appeared to cast doubt on allegations of sexual violence in a specific conflict context.

While Tame's Thursday video stopped short of a full retraction of her earlier statements — she continued to reference the Human Rights Watch finding and maintained her broader criticism of Israel — she was explicit in affirming her belief in individual survivors and her regret over the harm caused by how her words were received.

The apology comes amid ongoing public and political debate in Australia over the conflict in Gaza and the conduct of public figures who have taken positions on it. Prominent Australians issuing public apologies for controversial remarks has become a recurring theme in recent months.