Attorney General Mark Dreyfus is drafting new federal laws that would protect people from hate speech and outlaw vilification.
The new laws would impose serious penalties for serious instances of vilification based on a person’s race, sexuality, gender, disability or religion.
“The Albanese government is committed to promoting and supporting respect, acceptance and understanding across the Australian community,” Dreyfus told The Sydney Morning Herald. “We are committed to protecting the community from those who promote extremism, hatred or seek to incite violence.”
The new laws will be an extension of the protections on religious discrimination Labor promised ahead of the 2022 election covering the additional attributes of race, gender, sexuality and disability.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese flagged changes to the laws in February but said he would only proceed if the coalition agreed to bipartisan support.
Updating Australia’s protections on religious discrimination and removing loopholes that allow religious bodies to discriminate against LGBTIQA+ people has been a long-standing unresolved issue in Australian politics.
Recently public unrest related to the war in Gaza has fueled calls for greater protections of religious belief and freedom of speech.
LGBTIQA+ rights advocates say there are still many unanswered questions
Advocacy group Just.Equal Australia has welcomed the news that federal hate speech laws will be extended to cover more grounds but says the reports leave many key questions for the LGBTIQA community unaddressed.
They note that while the reports say the Government will prohibit vilification on grounds such as sexual orientation, gender and religion, there is no indication if this will include gender identity or whether existing protections under section 18c of the Race Discrimination Act will be extended to other grounds.
Spokesperson, Rodney Croome, said more details will be needed to access if laws will be effective.
“We welcome the reports that hate crime penalties will be extended, but the devil will be in the detail.”
“Will vilification on the grounds of gender identity and sex characteristics be included and will the kind of protection currently provided under 18c be made available for LGBTIQA+ people?”
“Will the Government take this opportunity to enact its promise to change the attribute of ‘intersex status’ to ‘sex characteristics’ in discrimination law, thereby providing stronger protections for intersex people?”
“Will the Government begin to speak out against rising LGBTIQA+ hate given it has said nothing about attacks against us over the last twelve months?”
“Finally, will there be public consultation more broadly than a small number of advocates close to the Government?”
Mr Croome said Just.Equal will write to the Attorney-General seeking answers.
Just.Equal has previously expressed concern that no senior member of the Government has spoken out against the rising tide of anti-LGBTIQA hatred and violence in Australia.
