News
Many Australians have been following the government’s racial hate speech law reform saga over the past few weeks in the wake of last month’s Bondi Beach attack, raising a question of whether the Federal government should seek to extend its protections for the LGBTQIA+ and disability communities as well.
The Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism Bill, which passed through Parliament on Tuesday, includes increased the penalties for hate crime offences and created a new offence for publicly promoting or inciting hatred, or disseminating ideas of racial superiority.
However, People with Disability Australia (PWDA) President, Jeremy Hope, argues other minority groups also deserve to feel safe under improved, cohesive protective legislation.
Our laws cannot split protections into silos. Hatred does not work that way, and neither should our legal framework. The Executive Council of Australian Jewry has publicly supported extending serious vilification protections to people with disability and LGBTIQA+ communities.
Jeremy Hope
The President of PWDA says people with disability need protection not just from physical violence, but from hatred.
Vilification is part of everyday life for many in our community. It is abuse online. It is comments yelled from cars. It is the withholding of essential daily living supports. It is being spoken to with contempt or threatened in places that are meant to be safe.
Jeremy Hope
Leader of the Greens, Senator Larissa Waters, says the party did its best to fight for the inclusion of all minorities, but claims the “arbitrary timeframe” that the government put on the hate speech issue signified little more than a political fix.
That's robbed us of the ability to deliver protection for people in the disabled community, the queer community, women. Everyone who could have been affected and is affected by hate speech and the actions that can flow from it. What a bungle. What a frightful and dangerous path that this government with the full support of the opposition is putting the country on.
Senator Larissa Waters
At a recent press conference, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was asked whether he believed the hate speech law should cover other elements such as religion and sexual orientation to create a broader protection.
In response, Mr Albanese referred to existing legislation.
The focus is very much on the aftermath of December 14th. It is on what was an antisemitic terrorist attack. On broader issues, what we intend to do is to have a process to look at other areas of hate speech. If the legislation is carried by the Parliament, that will be referred to a process going forward.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese
Currently, the Criminal Code Act 1995 contains a number of criminal offences that protect all Australians from threats of violence, according to the Department of the Attorney General. According to the Criminal Code Act 1995, it a criminal offence to advocate or threaten violence against groups, members of groups or their close associates.
PWDA’s Jeremy Hope believes leaving disability out of the serious vilification offence does not provide protection against the harm people with disability experience every day across Australia. He is calling for urgent reform, and says the government needs to commit to clear and genuinely co-designed protective legislation for the disability community.
“The harm is real…our laws must recognise and protect against it…The Australian Government needs to commit…so Australia’s hate speech laws are clear, consistent and rights-affirming for the groups most at risk of harm, which includes people with disability.”