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Islamophobia is on the rise.
"We saw a 1300 per cent increase in three weeks right after the 7th of October. Now, we're 62 weeks post 7th of October, and we're seeing an average of about 530 per cent increase."
That's Dr Nora Amath, Executive Director of the Islamophobia Register, which tracks reports of abuse and assaults towards Australian Muslims.
She says the register recorded more incidences of Islamophobia in a single year - following the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023 -- than in the entire eight years before.
Women have been a particular target.
"So, incidents could be that they're just going about their everyday business and where they're shopping with their children in their pram and getting verbally and physically assaulted while the child is in the pram. So, we've had cases like that in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, as well as Brisbane. So that is probably the very common incident that's reported to us as well as attempts to remove the headscarf from them. We've seen a lot of graffiti as well."
In the Western Sydney suburb of Sefton, on Sunday, residents woke to Islamophobic graffiti plastered on a busy road underpass.
"Fuck Islam," it said.
Politicians quickly came out to condemn the graffiti, and police say they are investigating, but Dr Amath says Sunday's spray is far from an isolated incident.
"We had one that said "kill all Muslims". We've also had some references to the Christchurch terrorist."
The terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch in 2019 shocked the world when an Australian gunman killed 51 worshippers.
It's an incident that continues haunts many Muslims, including Aya, a mother of two who moved from Egypt to Adelaide more than a decade ago.
"It was a very terrifying incident and when we got to know it was like very sad and worrying within our community, people were very worried to go to the mosque at that time because they thought it might be a chain of incidents. And since then, like, it always comes to my mind that something might happen."
The rise in Islamophobia brings those memories back - and it's making Aya worry that her kids aren't safe.
She says she's had friends leave the country in recent months because of escalating Islamophobia.
"This year, specifically, like 2024 and 2023 it's very different. Let's say I don't feel happy, I don't feel secure. I feel worried about the kids, and especially my girl. She goes to the school wearing a hijab, it's part of the uniform, and I just, you know, like, can't imagine someone hurting her just because she's wearing a scarf. So, it is definitely ... I never thought about these things in the past 9 or ten years. But then suddenly, I'm starting to see all of the things happening, and all the stories and following the media. It's like they are calling for a disaster to happen."
Earlier this month, a school bus was set on fire. It belonged to IQRA College, an Islamic school in Adelaide.
The bus was torched around midnight on a residential street, in front of the driver's house.
Police say there's no evidence the arson was racially motivated.
But the yellow bus bore a large sign indicating it belonged to a school, and the name and address of the Islamic college in smaller print.
Kamram Tahir is the Imam at Adelaide's largest mosque. He says the attackers "have no humanity".
"I think the greatest shock that it sent throughout the whole community, and I'm sure it's not only the Muslim community, the wider community as well is that it was extremely abhorrent act that you would target a bus, which is essentially for children, regardless if it were to be a bus which is transporting Muslim children or non-Muslim children."
In a statement to SBS News, South Australia police say after extensive door knocking and CCTV enquiries, they've been unable to identify any suspects or leads.
The investigation will be closed pending further information.
Parents like Aya will be left wondering what was behind the blaze.
"So, I actually run a WhatsApp group for the moms in my kids' schools. And everyone was so worried they wanted to know more information if it was a racist thing or was personal problems with the driver and the neighbour. We didn't have much information, but many were worried that it's racist attack or a hate attack."
Aya says parents had been encouraging each other to call the police and share their concerns, in a bid to bolster protections in the new year.
In the past, school communities have responded to Islamophobic incidents with extra teachers and parent patrols - but Aya thinks that's no longer enough.
Across Australia, mosques and Muslim schools are mulling the need for more security.
In Sefton, the Sydney suburb where anti-Islam graffiti was discovered on Sunday, there is a feeling of shock and concern.
A spokesperson for one local Mosque & Hussaineyat Ale Yassin in Sefton, Sheikh Mohammad Hourani says the community feels threatened.
"I do believe that the mosques will then now take into consideration levelling up their security, levelling up the way that they tackle, for example, these issues. The last thing you want is, for example, is to hold a Friday prayer and another event of what took place in Christchurch a few years ago take place. So that's the last thing anyone wants to see happen to their community members. So, I do believe that the mosques will increase in their security and we do hope that the government looks into funding and providing this support to our mosques."
The Australian National Imams Council has also responded to recent events in Sydney, calling on governments to recognise the escalating crisis, strengthen anti-racism policies, and prioritise hate crime investigations.
Spokesperson Bilal Rauf.
"Look, it's critical that we as faith communities and broadly across our society, come together on issues which affect us all, and acts of the hatred directed at any community affect us all. It's a time when we need to come together. But equally, there is a distress and trauma in the Australian Muslim community. There are there's a lot of pressure where they are silent, being silenced in terms of engaging in very legitimate criticism of Israel. And one can't diminish that either. So, and there's a lot of distress there that needs to be understood."
For now, Aya is glad that school is on break.
She's calling for governments to step up security and take Islamophobia more seriously before the new year.
For now, she's having conversations with her 13-year-old son about how to respond to a potential attack.
"And he was like, mum, don't worry. Nothing's going to happen. But it can happen, especially that it happened previously, and especially with the growing media releases and inciting of hate. It can happen. All it takes is just one crazy person, even with no guns, just with a knife. And the kids are the most vulnerable within our society. And since we have the chance to urge the government to provide security for schools, especially schools, that would be great."
