Submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee relating to the Criminal Code Amendment (Hate Crimes) Bill 2024
4 November 2024
PWDA welcomed the opportunity to provide feedback on the Criminal Code Amendment (Hate Crimes) Bill 2024 (the Bill).
Following the introduction of the Bill, PWDA made a statement. Read here: PWDA's response to the Federal Government Criminal Code Amendment (Hate Crimes) Bill 2024.
This submission was endorsed by Children and Young People with Disability Australia.
PWDA appreciates the introduction of a Bill to criminalise threats to use force or violence against targeted groups and expanding those groups to include disability, sex and LGBTQIA+ status. However, we are disappointed that the Bill does not criminalise serious forms of vilification perpetrated against targeted groups, as originally intended.
Vilification is a real and constant experience for many people with disability. The Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability (Disability Royal Commission) bore witness to harrowing stories of the frequent, in some cases daily, vilification that people with disability experience.
Experiences of frequent vilification caused many witnesses to fear for their safety and stopped some from leaving their house.
PWDA recognises the importance of freedom of speech, particularly the right to participate in peaceful political protests. However, serious vilification must be criminalised to symbolically acknowledge and practically address its gravity.
If the amended Bill requires vilification to take place 'in public', it should define public places to include congregated living settings, such as disability group homes and aged care homes. While these sites are residential, they are not 'private', given the presence of support workers, staff and other residents
The submission sets out the Government's rationale for criminalising threats of force or violence and demonstrates that the same rationale should apply to serious vilification.
It also makes further recommendations about criminalising online hate speech and ensuring that the terms 'force' and 'violence' in provisions 80.2BA and 80.2BB of the Bill include disability-specific acts of violence.
The submission covers:
- The Government's rationale for criminalising threats of force or violence
- Serious vilification and harm to dignity and mental health
- Serious vilification and interference with fundamental human rights
- Online hate speech
- Defining 'force' and 'violence'
Recommendation 1: The Bill be amended to criminalise serious instances of vilification against targeted groups, including people with disability, while respecting the right of people to participate in peaceful political protests. Where there is a requirement that the vilification occurs in 'public', the Bill must specify that congregate living settings, including disability group homes and aged care homes, are public places for the purposes of vilification offences.
Recommendation 2: The Government ensure that the crimes contained in the Bill, and any added serious vilification crime(s), include those perpetrated online.
Recommendation 3: The Government amends the Bill to specifically define what constitutes 'force' and 'violence' against people with disability, through co-design with people with disability and our representative organisations.
