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.
Submission to 2025-26 Federal Budget consultation
The Human Rights Law Centre has put forward recommendations to the 2025-26 federal budget submissions across a range of issues, including campaigning for an Australian Human Rights Act, migration justice, prisoners’ rights, whistleblower protection and modern slavery.
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Submission to Surveillance Legislation Amendment (Identify and Disrupt) Act 2021 review
The Human Rights Law Centre is calling for stronger safeguards for the right to privacy and warned that these powers enable the AFP and ACIC to undertake significant invasions of privacy, encroach on the right to privacy, and threaten to have a chilling effect on the work of journalists and their sources.
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Submission to Inquiry into antisemitism at Australian universities
In a submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights’ inquiry into antisemitism on Australian university campuses, the Human Rights Law Centre has called for reforms that uphold Australia's commitment to international human rights standards, fostering a society that respects equality, freedom, and justice for all.
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Acknowledgement of Country
The Human Rights Law Centre acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the lands across Australia, including the lands of the Wurundjeri, Boon Wurrung, Gadigal, Ngunnawal, Cammeraygal, Darug, Wadawurrung, Turrbal and Jagera people where we work from.
We pay our respect to Elders past and present. This land always was, and always will be Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander land. Sovereignty has never been ceded.
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