Brandis may change more than just 18C
THE Abbott government is considering amendments to federal anti-discrimination laws which could see racial vilification rendered a criminal offence alongside plans to amend part of the Racial Discrimination Act.
THE Abbott government is considering amendments to federal anti-discrimination laws which could see racial vilification rendered a criminal offence alongside plans to amend part of the Racial Discrimination Act.
Attorney-General George Brandis told The AJN the Coalition is considering amendments to section 80.2A of the Commonwealth Criminal Code which could see racial vilification become a criminal offence at the Commonwealth level.
In its current form, 80.2A outlaws violence against groups “distinguished by race, religion, nationality, national or ethnic origin or political opinion” but not racial vilification.
“It seems that section 80.2A of the Commonwealth Criminal Code is probably too narrowly drawn,” Brandis told The AJN.
“The Government is considering amendments to the Racial Discrimination Act to strike the right balance between freedom of speech and protecting people from racial vilification.
“These two values are not inconsistent.”
The Coalition’s election promise to repeal section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act in the name of free speech has caused significant concern among minority communities.
Leaders from ethnic and religious minority communities including the Greek, Arabic, indigenous and Jewish communities have been waging a campaign to see the changes to 18C dropped. Delegates including Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) executive director Peter Wertheim have met with Brandis to discuss 18C, which was successfully used to prosecute Holocaust denier Fredrick Toben in 2009.
18C outlaws speech or actions “reasonably likely … to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate [people] … because of race, colour or national or ethnic origin”.
“Laws which are designed to prohibit racial vilification should not be used as a vehicle to attack legitimate freedoms of speech,” Brandis told The AJN.
“I believe we can have better anti-vilification laws while at the same time removing those provisions of the Racial Discrimination Act which prevented the expression of opinion merely because it offended a group.”
Wertheim told The AJN changes to 80.2A would be positive only if the laws are workable and not a substitute for the civil remedies provided by Section 18C, including making a complaint to the Human Rights Commission.
“With the exception of the Western Australian Criminal Code, state criminal laws against racial vilification are effectively unusable due to an overly-stringent definition of the offence which makes it virtually impossible to prosecute,” Wertheim said.
ALEXANDRA ROACH
Attorney-General George Brandis.
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