Rushed Hate and Extremism Bill missed the opportunity for more comprehensive protections and lacks critical safeguards

In response to the passage of the government's Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism Bill, Amnesty International Australia reiterates its call for robust, comprehensive protections for all Australians from hatred.

The rushed timeline, lack of consultation and proper parliamentary oversight of the Bill means that an opportunity to achieve meaningful improvements in Australia's laws was lost, and unsatisfactory legislation has become law.

Amnesty Australia is concerned that the Bill grants significant new powers to executive government to designate an organisation a prohibited hate-group and to reject visa applications, and risks capturing people exercising their rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association.

The Home Affairs Minister has been granted even greater discretionary powers to cancel or deny a visa over "the risk of a person engaging in certain conduct, including vilification, inciting discord, or activities that represent a danger to the Australian community, if they were allowed to enter or remain in Australia".

This lowers the threshold for visa refusal or cancellation by giving the Minister the power to make decisions based on their personal opinion of what a person "might" do and whether that might "incite discord", a term that is legally untested and therefore open to subjective interpretation.

Amnesty is concerned that the Bill does not provide sufficient opportunities for redress or judicial review of decisions made by the Minister, a critical safeguard to ensure that discretionary power granted to executive government is not abused.

On the missed opportunity for more appropriate reform, Amnesty International Australia Strategic Campaigner Nikita White says;

"The horrific antisemitic killings at Bondi, following years of hate crimes on the Jewish community and on the Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian communities, highlights the pressing need to address hate.

"Under international human rights law governments have an obligation to protect people from vilification on the basis of religion, race, gender, sexual orientation, and disability.

"There is more the government needs to do to ensure everyone in Australia can enjoy their human rights, this includes legislating substantive vilification protections and implementing an anti-racism strategy."

"The Albanese government must ensure that implementation of these laws doesn't unduly restrict people's rights to freedom of expression, assembly, and association. There is more the government needs to do to ensure everyone in Australia can enjoy their human rights, this includes legislating substantive vilification protections and implementing an anti-racism strategy."

Amnesty Australia welcomes strengthened controls on firearms. Gun violence is a threat to our right to life and to health, among other rights, and there is no right to bear arms in international human rights law.

Amnesty International Australia has long campaigned for a federal Human Rights Act to ensure that the fundamental rights of all in Australia are protected and appropriately balanced.

Amnesty reiterates its longstanding call on the Australian Parliament to legislate an explicit prohibition of, and appropriate remedy for, advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence, in line with Australia's obligations under Article 20(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

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