Recently the NSW Government has proposed a new set of laws which include: 

• Up to 2 years in jail for intentionally inciting racial hatred.
• Increased penalties for nazi symbols near synagogues
• Up to 2 years in prison for blocking/harassing at places of worship
• Expanded Hate Crime Definitions

While some believe these updates address the recent wave of antisemitic attacks in Sydney, others have criticised it as a kneejerk reaction which does not address the root issues.

Today the NSW Government has announced that it will amend the Crimes Act 1900 to criminalise the incitement of racial hatred. The offence would carry a maximum penalty for an individual of two years’ imprisonment, fines of up to $11,000, or both, while corporations can face fines of $55,000.

The incitement of violence on the basis of race, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, gender identity, intersex status and HIV status is already illegal, and rightly so. These laws protect our community while not unreasonably burdening free speech. The proposed changes expand these laws to criminalise only the incitement of racial hatred and will have the effect of expanding existing divisions in our community.

By way of example, there is a dispute between members of the Indian diaspora in NSW regarding the formation of Khalistan, a Sikh nation. This is a movement that is often opposed by Hindu groups. If these communities were to vilify each other, the definition of ‘race’ in our criminal law is such that the new laws would have the effect of only leading to the prosecution of the Hindu groups because of the ethno-religious or national elements of the Sikh community that does not apply to the Hindu religion. 

These perverse outcomes, and also the likely overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, marginalised communities, people with a disability, children and young people in prosecutions, were all foreseen in the findings of the review into section 93Z of the Crimes Act that was handed to the government late last year. 

The review into s93Z outlined that provisions like those suggested by the Minns’ Government are imprecise and subjective. Further, the review made clear they go against the advice of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination which warned that restrictions on freedom of speech should not be “broad or vague”. 

The NSW Government has not consulted with legal and human rights experts or broader civil society groups on these proposed new laws and they should abandon these laws until they do. 

The NSW Government’s Crimes Amendment (Places of Worship) Bill 2025 creates an offence with a potential two years imprisonment and/or a $22,000 fine for blocking, impeding or hindering access to places of worship. It grants NSW Police the extraordinary powers to arrest and move on people in or near a place of worship for any reason. 

Concerningly, these offences could be used to charge members of the faith protesting their own organisation, sexual abuse survivors demanding justice and any snap rally or assembly that happens within a vicinity of a place of worship, such as Town Hall.

The NSW Government has not consulted with legal, civil liberties and human rights organisations on the legislation. The Australian Constitution creates an implied freedom of political communication. These laws are clearly unconstitutional and will be subject to challenge.

Last week the NSW Labor Government announced a number of new laws that will repress people’s right to protest. Including, a new criminal offence to prevent protest in or near a place of worship where those people blocking access to a religious institution could face up to two years in jail. The government has said police will be given increased power to move protestors on and arrest them. 

It is unclear what further powers the police will be granted as the Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002 already gives NSW Police officers extraordinary powers to move people on including for obstructing another person or traffic; harassing or intimidating another person or persons; or causing or likely causing fear to another person.  

The measures risk impacting a wide cross-section of our community, including survivors of church sexual abuse, students, teachers, healthcare workers, anti-war protestors, LGBTIQA+ people and their allies and First Nations people or any NSW resident who directly or indirectly obstructs access to a place of worship in order to campaign for their rights. 

These laws seek to protect religious institutions, who exercise large amounts of political power in Australia and the world, at the expense of individual democratic freedoms. This unfairly shields them from public opposition.  

Today the NSW Government has announced a raft of new laws that will unduly restrict freedom of speech and the right to protest. 

The proposed laws go against the findings of the review into section 93Z of the Crimes Act that was handed to the government late last year. The review into s93Z outlined that provisions like those suggested by the Minns’ Government are imprecise and subjective. Further, the review made clear they go against the advice of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination which warned that restrictions on freedom of speech should not be “broad or vague”. 

The NSW Council for Civil Liberties echoes the concerns raised by many submissions that the proposed vilification offences could disproportionately impact disadvantaged groups, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, people with disability and young people. 

The NSW Government has not consulted with legal and human rights experts or broader civil society groups on these proposed new laws and they should abandon these laws until they do. 

Council for Civil Liberties says Minns government is at risk of making ‘reactionary’ legislation as pressure mounts to stem further attacks

NSW Premier Chris Minns has come under criticism as he has continued to call for the limiting of protest rights in NSW. Recently Amnesty International Australia have criticised his calls to ban Palestine protests outside places of worship.

This call first came from Jillian Segal, the Antisemitism special envoy appointed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese who described the Palestine rallies as "intimidatory".

After the Adass Israel synagogue was firebombed, Anthony Albanese said he “cannot conceive of any reason, apart from creating division in our community, of why someone would want to hold a demonstration outside a place of worship”.

In response to this a variety of individuals and groups have criticised this statement, such as survivors of clergy abuse.

Within the last financial year Queensland has had the highest number of deaths in custody in the past two decades, 19, as revealed by the Australian Institute of Criminology's latest Deaths in Custody report.

This report further highlighted 5 Indiginous deaths in custody, the highest in Australia, equal with WA, with half of the deaths being suicides. Queensland also led the nation in deaths in police custody this year, with eight fatalities.

This week the Minns Labor Government announced they are considering introducing laws to criminalise protest outside of religious institutions. NSWCCL is alarmed by the announcement and condemns the NSW Government for taking another authoritarian step towards the criminalisation of the right to protest.

The attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue is a reprehensible and violent act. The vandalism and destruction of property in the Eastern suburbs should also be admonished. There is no place in a democratic society for any such behaviour. Freedom of religion is essential in a democratic society, but it does not exist at the expense of our other essential rights like that of protest.

The attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue and the vandalism and destruction of property in the Eastern suburbs are criminal offences and should be dealt with accordingly. The Minns Labor Government’s infringement of our collective right to protest will do nothing to prevent them. The NSWCCL believes strongly that as the NSW Government continues to prevent communities from exercising their right to peacefully protest they increase the risk of more disruptive and potentially violent demonstrations from occurring.

Recently over 170 protesters, including 14 children, were arrested in the Rising Tide protest and blockade at the world's largest coal port in Newcastle. 

These arrests have brought greater attention and critique to Australia’s increasingly restrictive protest laws, which have expanded significantly in recent years.

The NSWCCL urges the government to shift drug policy to prioritise public health and harm reduction over criminalisation. Current laws have failed to stop drug use, creating illegal markets, wasting police resources, and disproportionately affecting groups such as First Nations peoples, LGBTIQA+ communities, and economically disadvantaged individuals.

NSWCCL supports decriminalising personal drug use, improving access to treatment, and ending harsh and violating policing practices like strip searches and drug detection dogs. Evidence shows decriminalisation reduces overall harm, making it easier for people to seek help without increasing drug use. Criminalisation, by contrast, pushes drug use underground, making it harder for users to access support and leaving many with criminal records that harm their future prospects.

First Nations peoples are especially impacted by over-policing and harsher treatment for minor drug offences. NSWCCL highlights how police discretion and reliance on fines exacerbate inequities, further disadvantaging marginalised groups. Criminalisation also contributes to organised crime, with profits from the black market contributing to violence and instability.

NSWCCL calls on the government to implement recommendations from the 2020 Ice Inquiry, including better coordination of drug policy, expanded treatment programs, and the removal of penalties for personal drug use. Protections for medical cannabis patients and an end to punitive policing at music festivals are also critical reforms.

NSWCCL Vice President Lydia Shelly unpacks the recent Newcastle protest arrests and the broader fight for civil liberties on ABC RN Drive.

Listen here!

On 26 November 2024,  the University of Sydney Senate endorsed in principle the Hodgkinson Report into protest activity at the university.

The report makes 15 recommendations to restrict protest activity on campus, including:

a) a complete ban on students addressing lecture halls before classes begin;

b) a complete ban on protest activity inside university buildings, including sit-ins;

c) a “civility rule” which will require speakers to “make the meaning of contested words and phrases clear to the audience”;

d) designating “uncivil” behaviour (ie rudeness) at student meetings as misconduct, with individuals responsible banned from holding office in student organisations;

e) the withdrawal of funding to student organisations where students do not “disagree well” (ie are rude) during official meetings;

f) the prohibition of encampments as a form of protest.

NSW Council for Civil Liberties wrote to the NSW Minister for Education Prue Car and to the secretary of the NSW Labor caucus urging the state government to urgently intervene to protect the right to the freedom of expression at the University of Sydney.

Yesterday, in Newcastle 170 people were arrested for protesting the fossil fuel industry at Rising Tide’s Blockade of the Newcastle Coal Port. This extraordinary number of people were arrested under NSW draconian anti-protest laws. 

The Minns government has announced its intention to impose harsher penalties on protests and peaceful demonstrations near railways, labelling such actions as “irresponsible and disruptive.”

Under new legislation to be introduced this week, the penalties for obstructing a railway would be doubled. The offence would carry a maximum fine of $22,000, up to two years’ imprisonment, or both.

Premier Chris Minns stated that the increased penalties are intended to deter such actions. “Protests on railway lines are seriously dangerous and disruptive, and they are not tolerated in NSW,” he said. “Train drivers, passengers travelling to work, and companies going about their business should not have to contend with protesters on the tracks – it’s that simple.”

This proposal is the latest in a series of anti-protest measures introduced or expanded under the Minns government, which has taken significant steps to restrict legal protest activities.

The Minns government has introduced new legislation to increase penalties for protests that obstruct railways. This has sparked more criticism of the NSW governments approach to protest rights.

The Crimes Amendment (Obstructing a Railway) Bill 2024 proposes a maximum fine of $22,000 for the offence, doubling the penalty that can had previously be implemented. This move has been criticised and seen as part of a broader escalation of anti-protest measures, designed to suppress dissent rather than address public safety.

In our submission NSWCCL raised concerns that criminal offences should remain a last resort given their impact on freedom of expression and the risk that police will use them to target people in discriminatory ways. 

On 15 November 2024, Transport for NSW declared an exclusion zone from Horseshoe Beach to Nobbys beach in Newcastle from 5pm on Thursday 21 November to 8:00am on Monday 25 November. The exclusion zone means that no vessels or people who are not authorised by Maritime or Police authorities can enter the exclusion zone.

The period overlaps with Rising Tide’s Blockade of the Newcastle Coal Port which commences tomorrow and runs until Tuesday 26 November. On-water activities were planned from Friday 22 November to Sunday 24 November.

The NSW Minns Government has released a media statement  today indicating that they wish to amend section 213 of the Crimes Act to insert a 200-penalty unit offence that will double the fines for blocking railways from $11,000 to $22,000.

The NSW Council for Civil Liberties opposes these draconian laws which continue the Minns Government’s unacceptable attack on the People of NSW’s right to protest. These laws have created a chilling effect on civil movements and social progress.