Australia’s Victoria state will set up a anti-hate task force to help frame laws giving police more powers to tackle violent protests, as it probes a suspected arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue when worshippers were inside, it says.

A series of attacks in Melbourne over the weekend has placed pressure on the Albanese government to do more to combat antisemitism.

Australia's Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke on Sunday (July 6) called an alleged arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue with worshippers in the building, the latest in a series of incidents targeting the nation's Jewish community,