In fantastic news for all Victorians, earlier this month the Government announced that our anti-vilification laws will be expanded to include a range of new attributes.
In 2020, the Legislative Assembly Legal and Social Issues Committee held an Inquiry into Anti-Vilification Protections in Victoria. In early September, the government issued their response to the recommendations. SMLS made a submission to the original inquiry and gave evidence at a public hearing. We are pleased that many of our recommendations, as well as recommendations from our sector, have been supported by the committee, and supported by the government response.
The government supported a range of the recommendations from the committee, in particular, in-principle support for anti-vilification protections to be as inclusive as possible, and be expanded to include gender and/or sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or gender expression, sex characteristics and/or intersex status, disability, HIV/AIDS status and personal association in addition to the existing protections against race and religion.
In addition, the government supported an intersectional approach that recognises the compounding effects of vilification on the basis of multiple attributes, such as race and gender. Basically, this means that a person should be able to make a complaint of vilification based on more than one attribute.
The government also committed to establishing a criminal offence that prohibits the display of Nazi symbols, such as the swastika.
The report also focused on online vilification, and that the state government should advocate the Commonwealth Government regarding the establishment of a national regulatory framework for all forms of media. The government has stated that they will work with the Commonwealth and other states and territories to explore options for a national approach to online vilification.
Another recommendation within principal support is that the Victorian Government fund organisations such as Victorian Legal Aid and the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service to engage in strategic litigation on vilification matters to develop practice in this area. We will watch this space with interest.
The government also supports in principle, recommendations to change the legal test to ensure more hateful conduct is prohibited by the law and to provide a way for the harm of vilification to be seen from the perspective of the victim. Overall, these changes are a huge win for people that are at risk of experiencing vilification and represent a desire to create a more socially just Victoria.
