Hate speech laws pass parliament as Liberals claim freedom of speech is at risk

People who engage in hate speech in Victoria will face up to five years in prison under landmark new laws that critics say will stifle free speech.

The long awaited anti-vilification laws expand protections beyond race and religion to include factors such as gender, sexuality and disabilities.

The legislation passed state parliament on Wednesday after the government reached a deal with the Greens, ending a stalemate over the legislation.

The new laws have been widely welcomed by Jewish leaders, human rights organisations, legal groups, disability and LGBTQ groups, but panned by the Liberals as putting a handbrake on free speech.

Premier Jacinta Allan and then Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes announced the new laws in November.Credit: Eddie Jim

The Opposition voted against the bill after negotiations with the government for bipartisan support became deadlocked over four words in the bill.

Premier Jacinta Allan said on Wednesday the passing of the bill was an important moment in the state’s history.

“It’s another strengthening of the laws, the strengthening of police powers, and doing it in a really powerful way. It’s about saying this is the sort of society we want to see here in Victoria, where you can be free from hate,” she said.

The anti-vilification laws gained new significance last year when the government came under pressure to respond to the firebombing of the Adass Israel synagogue in Ripponlea.Credit: Arsineh Houspian

The new laws will make serious vilification offences – such as incitement of hatred or physical threats – punishable by up to five years’ jail, and civil protections will be strengthened providing more options for people to take legal action and seek compensation if they have been harmed.

The Coalition had said it supported expanding hate laws to protect people based on disability, gender identity, sex, sex characteristics and sexual orientation.

However, it disagreed with the legal test applied to the civil laws, which is whether a “reasonable person with the protected attribute” would consider the conduct hateful. Coalition MPs wanted the test to simply be whether a “reasonable person” would consider it hateful.

Speaking in the upper house, Liberal MP Evan Mulholland said legal tests “must and should be objective”.

Opposition Leader Brad Battin said the bill would limit free speech and that the party had opposed it “the whole way through”.

“This bill is a bad bill for Victorians, it will create issues, clogging up the courts, seeing people pursue each other, rather than working together to educate each other to actually create the society we want going forward,” he said.

Allan said the Liberals did not support the bill because they were more focused on “peace in their right-wing party room than they were focused on peace in our community”.

Civil liberties group Liberty Victoria has previously raised concerns that parts of the legislation failed to strike the right balance between protecting people from harm and protecting freedom of speech and expression.

“There is a risk that well-intentioned legislation can be sought to be weaponised against forms of legitimate political expression,” the group said in January.

The Greens had been seeking to add a public interest defence to the legislation, which had the support of a broad coalition of community and legal rights groups.

Instead, the Greens and Labor agreed on amendments that require decision-makers to consider the “social, historical and cultural context” of any offences, which the party says will capture power imbalances between parties in both civil and criminal cases.

Labor also agreed to an amendment stipulating that police will not be able to bring charges for serious vilification without the prior approval of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Speaking in the upper house, Treasurer Jaclyn Symes said the bill struck a balance that was practical and meaningful for diverse communities.

“The bill is not about protests. The bill is not for lawyers, for academics, for those who want to intellectualise about the theoretical good or application of the laws,” she said.

Greens MP Gabrielle de Vietri said the amendments put safeguards in place to prevent the proposed laws from being misused, especially against marginalised and over-policed communities.

“We’re pleased that Labor has worked with the Greens to pass a progressive bill instead of caving even further to the Liberals and right-wing campaigns on such important laws for our LGBTQIA+ and disabled communities,” she said.

The reforms originated from a private members’ bill introduced five years ago by then-independent MP Fiona Patten.

But it gained new significance last year when the government came under pressure to respond to rising antisemitism and the firebombing of the Adass Israel synagogue in Ripponlea.

The government gained the support of prominent Jewish groups for the bill after it dropped the genuine political purpose defence, which could have allowed people to avoid conviction if they “engaged in the conduct for a genuine political purpose”.

Jeremy Leibler, president of Zionist Federation Australia, said the Jewish community was united in supporting the once-in-a-generation reforms.

“We have been facing an explosion of hatred in Australia at a time when Victoria’s hate speech laws have been broken – with one successful prosecution for serious vilification in over 20 years,” he said.

Philip Zajac, president of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria, said the passage of the new laws signalled a new era in Victoria, “where those who are undermining our social cohesion face consequences for their destructive actions”.

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