NSW will not implement recommendation of long-awaited hate speech report – as it happened

The NSW government will not expand a controversial offence for inciting hatred to include religion, sexual orientation or gender identity, against the recommendation of a report which it has been sitting on for eight months.

In a statement this afternoon, the NSW attorney general, Michael Daley, said the government was today releasing the report by former supreme court justice John Sackar, first provided to the government in November.

In the report, Sackar has recommended that section 93ZAA of the NSW Crimes Act, an offence for inciting hatred on the grounds of race, brought in last year against the recommendation of the NSW Law Reform Commission, be “amended to included all attributes currently protected by section 93Z”.

Section 93Z, the offence for inciting violence, covers offences committed on the basis of someone’s race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or intersex or HIV/Aids status.

double quotation markAfter careful consideration of the Sackar Review and its recommendations, the NSW Government has decided not to expand the existing criminal offence of inciting racial hatred to apply to additional protected attributes.

There is no place for hatred in NSW. Everyone deserves to feel safe, respected and free from intimidation, regardless of their background, faith, sexuality or identity.

The Government’s view is that expanding the racial hatred offence to cover other attributes raises complex questions about freedom of expression, freedom of religion, and the consistent application of the criminal law across the community.”