Victoria’s state government will attempt to drastically expand anti-vilification laws next month and impose prison terms of up to five years for hate speech, leaving religious groups divided.
Christians have warned the harsh new laws will leave them open to persecution and fear they will be weaponised by far-left activists, and the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne has said it was concerned about the restriction of religious freedom.
However, Jewish and Muslim leaders have welcomed the changes, as have proponents of radical gender ideology such as Transgender Victoria.
The legislation updates were originally proposed to combat “islamophobia”, but were then altered to cover anti-Semitism and vilification of homosexuals and people with gender delusions.
The proposed changes to the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001 expand vilification protection from race and religion to cover so-called gender identity, sex, sexual orientation and disability, and lower the threshold for police to lay criminal charges.
The laws would make it an offence to “incite hatred against, serious contempt for, revulsion towards or severe ridicule of, another person or a group of persons on the ground of a protected attribute”, add a threat offence, and would cover “reckless conduct” whereas the current legislation only covers “intentional conduct”.
Online the laws would apply to anyone anywhere who vilifies a person in Victoria, and offline to both private and public interactions, but there would be a “political purpose defence” added for the incitement offence only.
Two additional “civil protections” would also be added to the Equal Opportunity Act – a modified incitement-based protection and a harm-based protection, both intended to “capture public conduct (including online) that is hateful or incites hate”.
The incitement-based protection would “prohibit conduct that is likely to incite hatred against, serious contempt for, revulsion towards or severe ridicule of another person or group based on a protected attribute”.
The harm-based protection defines speech or conduct as vilification if it is “s reasonably likely to be considered harmful from the perspective of a person or a member of a group with that attribute”.
The current serious vilification offences have a maximum penalty of 6 months imprisonment or $11,855.40, or both, but under the proposed reforms “the incitement offence would have a maximum penalty of 3 years imprisonment, and the threat offence would have a maximum penalty of 5 years imprisonment”.
The legislation is expected to be tabled in Victorian Parliament next month by Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes who told ABC News: “This isn’t about curtailing people’s ability to practice the religion that they hold. This is squarely about protecting vulnerable people from hate speech.”
But the Australian Christian Lobby is lobbying MPs to vote against the changes, saying they will put Christians at greater risk of persecution.
“Under a new harm-based legislative reform, an expression of Christian faith, whether in speech or conduct, in public or online, could amount to vilification if it is considered harmful by someone who claims their protected attributes have been discriminated against,” Victorian ACL director Jasmine Yuen said.
“This sets a dangerous precedent, introducing a subjective element into the law. Victorians of faith will potentially be stifled, or even prosecuted, for expressing a religious view on Biblical sexual ethics and biology. It opens a door for Christians to be targeted and brought before a tribunal by activists.
“If successful, this bill will only exempt religious ‘statement, publication, discussion or debate’ with ‘genuine purpose’ and ‘truly in the public interest’ from vilification.”
“The problem with making speech illegal based on vague perceptions of hate is deciding who gets to determine what qualifies as hateful speech and what does not.”
Thank you, Liberal MP Nicole Werner, for raising these concerns about the proposed changes to Victoria’s… pic.twitter.com/LHTbfK1q1h
— Australian Christian Lobby (@ACLobby) November 3, 2024
The Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne also expressed concerns, saying the laws could potentially create more community division.
“Attempts to lower the threshold of what constitutes vilification must not stifle genuine discussion and acts done in good faith, particularly the sharing of religious beliefs,” a spokesperson said.
Rabbi Gabi Kaltmann who worked with the Attorney-General to help draft the changes, said last month that tensions between Jews and Muslims since October 7 showed there was an “urgent need” for stronger laws, and told ABC News the reforms were going to make “more and more Victorians safe”.
Islamic Council of Victoria president Adel Salman said imams should be able to talk about sexuality and gender without fear of persecution but welcomed the changes overall and endorsed the lower threshold for criminal charges.
“The number one target of islamophobia are hijabi women of colour. They’re women, they’re obviously Muslim, and they’re of colour … they should be considered aggravating factors. And so the offence for that should be even greater,” he said.
Son Vivienne, CEO of Transgender Victoria, a non-profit advocacy group that receives state government funding, said it was religious leaders would only be prosecuted for their teachings if they incited hate.
“It’s really deep and powerful when we see lawmakers actually acknowledge our right to be the way we are regardless of how we present, or our pronouns, or our names,” he said.
Victorian Libertarian MP David Limbrick called on free speech advocates to oppose the laws, saying last month: “This is really serious stuff. You can go to jail for three years for ridicule.
“They want to include behaviour that incites hatred or other serious emotions. But the government’s actions incite serious emotions in me all the time.”
Header image: Attorney-General Jacklyn Symes, left, Rabbi Gabi Kaltman with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at an October 7 commemoration, right (Facebook)
You may have heard about the Federal Government’s misinformation bill, but did you know there’s a new free speech fight brewing right here in Victoria? #springst pic.twitter.com/iyWrQvCMVF
— David Limbrick MP 🌸 (@_davidlimbrick) October 1, 2024
