Labor (AUS) to consider expanding hate speech protections covering LGBTQ+ people, disability and religion

Australia’s federal government is preparing to consider expanded legal safeguards for LGBTQ+ communities, people with disabilities and religious groups once a new package of hate speech and anti-vilification laws passes parliament.

Set for debate next Monday and Tuesday, the bill responds to the Bondi beach shootings and includes new hate speech offences, powers to proscribe extremist organisations, and the largest gun buyback since the 1996 Port Arthur massacre. While the measure is expected to protect Australian Jews from antisemitic rhetoric and cover other racial groups, including the Sikh community, advocates and MPs are urging a broader approach that explicitly addresses hatred on the basis of sexuality, gender, disability and religion.

As the Guardian reports, rime minister Anthony Albanese said that, if the legislation is carried, the government will establish a process to examine “other areas of hate speech.” Health minister Mark Butler has similarly signalled extending protections to disability, gender and sexuality.

Independent MP Allegra Spender, whose Wentworth electorate includes Bondi and a sizeable LGBTQ+ population, plans amendments to widen the bill. She welcomed further reform but criticised the current focus on race, noting that Jewish community leaders support inclusive protections for all. Equality Australia’s legal director, Heather Corkhill, warned of “alarming and deliberate attacks” on LGBTIQ+ people and called stronger safeguards “urgent.”

Officials from the attorney-general’s department said the bill draws on the Racial Discrimination Act and is expected to cover ethno-religious groups. Deputy secretary Sarah Chidgey said Jews are encompassed within references to race, colour, or national or ethnic origin. She added that being Catholic, Christian or another religion alone would not automatically qualify, though specific groups within broader faiths may meet the criteria.

Some Coalition MPs, including Nationals senators Matt Canavan and Bridget McKenzie, pushed back; Canavan labelled the plan “undemocratic, unconstitutional and so vague” it could chill legitimate criticism. Labor senator Raff Ciccone urged colleagues to avoid politicising the bill, citing strong support from the Jewish community and the need to “stamp out antisemitism.”

Multicultural affairs minister Anne Aly said the government’s next step, once the current bill becomes law, will be to consider extending protections to “other types of hate,” affirming that “no one in Australia should be subjected to any type of hate.” Albanese expects debate to conclude by Tuesday night.