Mental health professionals offered survivor guilt counseling Monday to uninjured attendees of the Bondi Beach celebration where 15 people died, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemning the antisemitic terrorism. The prime minister laid flowers at the site as flags flew at half-mast following Australia’s deadliest gun violence in decades.
Approximately 1,000 Jewish community members had gathered for the Sunday evening Hanukkah celebration when father-son shooters Sajid Akram, 50, and Naveed Akram, 24, attacked. Many who escaped the roughly ten-minute assault physically unharmed struggled with guilt about surviving when others died or suffered injuries. Security forces killed the elder and critically wounded the younger, bringing total deaths to sixteen.
Counselors explained that survivor guilt represents a common trauma response requiring professional support. Uninjured survivors questioned why they survived, whether they could have done more to help others, or felt undeserving of their fortune compared to the forty hospitalized victims. Specialists emphasized that these feelings, while painful, represented normal responses to abnormal circumstances rather than accurate reflections of moral failing.
Among those processing complex emotions was Ahmed al Ahmed, 43, recovering from gunshot wounds sustained while disarming an attacker. Despite his heroism, he reportedly struggled with thoughts about those he could not save. His experience illustrated that even those who acted courageously faced psychological challenges. Counselors worked with people across all responses from flight to fight, addressing guilt regardless of how individuals reacted during the crisis.
This incident marks Australia’s worst shooting in nearly three decades and created survivor guilt across multiple groups including uninjured attendees, injured victims who survived when others died, and first responders who questioned their response. Mental health experts emphasized that guilt often emerged weeks after events as initial shock faded, requiring sustained support services. As counseling programs launched, specialists prepared for the reality that many experiencing survivor guilt would initially resist seeking help, requiring outreach that normalized these feelings while offering pathways to processing them healthily.