Stopping hate in its tracks
Today the Human Rights Law Centre – along with the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, Get Up!, the Anti Defamation Commission and the Victorian Trades Hall Council – have made a joint submission to the Victorian Government’s Inquiry into Anti-Vilification Protections on how to enact best practice anti-vilification laws to stop hate in its tracks.
Current anti-vilification laws in Victoria have been largely ineffective in stopping hate. When hateful conduct is allowed to go unchecked, it can escalate into outright violence. The real world consequences of this have been highlighted by a number of examples in recent history, including the mass murder of 51 Muslim people in New Zealand by an Australian white supremacist last year. Hateful conduct is also contrary to our democratic values and reduces a person’s ability to contribute to, and fully participate in, society as equals.
In light of this, the joint submission recommends that the Victorian Government should:
1. Enact new laws prohibiting the public display of vilifying & intimidating materials, including the swastika. The swastika is a symbol of hate, genocide and trauma. It has also become a calling card for the Far Right. There should be no place for this symbol in Australia.
2. In recognition of the negative impact that hateful conduct can have on groups of people not currently protected by the law, expand the list of protected attributes to include race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity & gender expression, sex characteristics, HIV/AIDS status and disability.
3. Improve the civil and criminal legal tests for vilification, and enact a new protection against hate-based conduct that looks at the harm caused to the person targeted by hateful conduct rather than whether a third party has been incited to hatred.