2025-02-20
The Victorians Greens are offering Labor a progressive pathway to pass effective hate speech laws, having long advocated for protections for the LGBTQIA+ and disabled communities.
The Greens have extensively consulted human rights, legal, faith and community groups and are seeking a number of amendments as we share some serious concerns about the adverse impacts that Labor’s recent changes could have on marginalised communities including the LGBTQIA+, disabled, multicultural, and First Nations communities.
We’re concerned by the expanded scope of the religious exception and will be seeking changes to ensure LGBTQIA+ and other marginalised groups are protected from hate speech that could hide under the guise of religion.
The Greens have raised our serious concerns about the criminal provisions of this Bill and how these could be disproportionately used against already over-policed groups experiencing systemic injustice. To safeguard against this we are seeking that decision-makers are required to consider context and power imbalances when applying these laws.
To safeguard the communities that are most likely to be unfairly impacted by these laws, like First Nations people, we will also be seeking a public interest defence for genuine and reasonable conduct in good faith.
Quotes attributable to Greens MP, Gabrielle de Vietri:
“The Greens are offering a progressive pathway for effective protections against hate speech. It’s essential that we get these important laws right.
“We’ve been working closely with human rights, legal, faith and community groups on changes and share their concerns that elements of this Bill could have an adverse impact on marginalised people including the LGBTQIA+, disabled, multicultural and First Nations communities.
“We’ve consistently said we want to work with Labor to pass effective protections against hate speech and now we implore them to come to the table so we can do just that.”