NSW hate speech laws set to be changed next month in the wake of anti-Semitic attacks

Changes designed to strengthen NSW hate speech laws are set to be introduced to parliament as soon as February, in response to an escalation of anti-Semitic attacks across Sydney.

Changes designed to strengthen NSW hate speech laws are set to be introduced to parliament as soon as February, in response to an escalation of anti-Semitic attacks across Sydney.

Speaking in Western Sydney on Sunday, Premier Chris Minns indicated strengthening Section 93Z of the Crimes Act, would be one of the first items on the legislative agenda when parliament returns in February.

Section 93Z outlaws the incitement of violence on grounds of race, religion, gender and sexual orientation.

The move to further change state hate speech laws comes after a spate of anti-Semitic attacks across Sydney on Synagogues and homes, including the firebombing of cars in Dover Heights. The former home of Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief Alex Ryvchin was targeted during the incident.

The Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese in Hoxton, Western Sydney with the Premier of New South Wales, Chris Minns. Picture: NewsWire / Simon Bullard.

Mr Minns said he regretted not strengthening hate speech laws sooner, despite a review commissioned by the government finding no changes to the laws should be made.

“I’ve become increasingly of the view that the initial spark isn’t someone going to a synagogue or a house and lighting a match – the initial spark is hate speech in our community,” he said.

“Our government is going to make the decision soon, a difficult decision, but the right one … to strengthen hate speech laws in NSW so that if someone is preaching hatred in the community it doesn’t manifest itself two or three months later in a firebombing or an attack or something worse.”

Executive Council of Australian Jewry Co-CEO Alex Ryvchin looking at his old home in Dover Heights that was targeted in another anti-Semitic attack with cars torched, hate messages sprayed on them and the house was also splashed with red paint. Picture: Jonathan Ng

The Premier has indicated part of the changes to the hate speech laws could include making incitement to hatred and vilification a criminal offence. Currently it can only be pursued in civil courts, requiring a private prosecution from the targeted individual.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin and his wife Vicki Ryvchin visit their former family home in Dover Heights after it was the target of an anti-Semitic attack with a car set fire and red paint thrown across the front of the home. Picture: NewsWire / John Appleyard

The decision to pursue reform comes after a nine-month review conducted by the NSW Law Reform Commission into Section 93Z recommended in November last year that no changes to the state’s hate speech laws should be made, despite there being just a sole conviction in six years.

The review cited a lack of consensus, existing offences and possible infringements of freedoms, as reasons the laws should not be strengthened.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he spoke to Mr Ryvchin after Friday’s attack Picture: NewsWire / Simon Bullard.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he had spoken to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief Alex Ryvchin after his former home was attacked last week, and said more work was needed to fight anti-semitism in the community.

An anti-Semitic attack with cars torched and hate messages sprayed on them and others over night. A house was also splashed with red paint. Picture: Supplied.

An anti-Semitic attack on the Newtown Synagogue. Picture: NewsWire / Simon Bullard.

“We’re determined to stamp this out – there is no place in Australia for anti-Semitism – there is no place for the sorts of outrageous acts that we have seen,” he said. “

We will continue to take whatever action is within our power in order to stamp this out.”

The Prime Minister raised eyebrows on Friday after spending more than an hour pre-recording a segment for news podcast The Squiz, with sources within the Jewish community saying he should have been present at Dover Heights after the attack. Instead, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke visited the site on Sunday with Wentworth MP Allegra Spender and members of the Jewish community.

Jewish groups have welcomed Mr Minns’s promises that changes to hate speech laws will be top of the legislative agenda this year.

Jewish Board of Deputies president David Ossip said the laws were currently too weak to achieve prosecutions.

“It is unacceptable that individuals have been able to call for acts of violence against other Australians based on their race or religion without consequence,” he said.

“We’ve now clearly seen that what starts with rhetoric doesn’t end with rhetoric – it ends with the violent scenes we’ve seen in Sydney and Melbourne in recent times.”

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