Australia’s leading Jewish advocacy organization has expressed cautious approval of the federal government’s newly proposed hate speech legislation, while simultaneously highlighting substantial deficiencies in the draft framework. The Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) acknowledged the Albanese administration’s efforts to strengthen protections against hate-motivated violence and harassment but identified critical flaws that could potentially undermine the legislation’s effectiveness.
The comprehensive reform package, unveiled by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday, introduces several groundbreaking measures including new criminal offenses targeting ‘hate preachers’ who radicalize minors, provisions against inciting hatred to facilitate harassment, and criminalization of membership in proscribed hate organizations. The proposed legislation additionally seeks to enhance the Home Affairs Minister’s authority regarding visa cancellations and implements firearm regulation reforms, notably a national buyback program and restrictions limiting gun licenses exclusively to Australian citizens.
ECAJ Co-Chief Executive Peter Wertheim characterized the legislative initiative as ‘a significant step in the right direction’ toward fostering national unity through reinforced anti-hate protocols. He contextualized the urgent need for such measures, referencing both last month’s antisemitic terrorist attack and the broader climate of hostility that preceded it. Wertheim criticized the existing legal framework as obsolete, noting that ‘spurious civil liberties arguments’ have historically rendered hate speech laws practically unenforceable, allowing perpetrators of notorious hate speech incidents to evade accountability.
However, the Council articulated four principal concerns regarding the proposed serious vilification offense. The legislation notably excludes protections based on gender identity and sexual orientation, fails to address instances where hatred is recklessly promoted rather than intentionally incited, and incorporates a controversial exemption for quotations from religious texts used in theological instruction. Additionally, the offense requires prosecutors to demonstrate that the conduct would cause ‘a reasonable member of the targeted group’ to fear for their safety—a notably high evidentiary threshold.
Wertheim emphasized that ‘none of the world’s recognised religions promotes racial hatred knowingly and deliberately,’ asserting that invoking religious justification to dehumanize others based on identity should be relegated to history. The legislation is currently undergoing examination by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, where Department of Home Affairs and Attorney-General’s officials faced rigorous questioning about the bill’s implications.
During committee hearings, Coalition senators challenged the consultation process, revealing that religious organizations were permitted only thirty minutes to review the legislation under non-disclosure agreements before its publication. Officials clarified that the religious text exemption aims to protect benign theological discussion rather than endorse any religious text containing antisemitic content, noting that some scriptures contain ‘archaic language’ without promoting hatred. The legislation specifically avoids prohibiting particular statements, instead establishing general thresholds for criminalizing speech while excluding mere expressions of cultural superiority.