Submission to the proposed anti-vilification protections for all Victorians

VCOSS welcomes the opportunity to provide a submission to the proposed anti-vilification protections for all Victorians.  

As the peak body for social and community services in Victoria, and as an advocate for a sustainable, fair and equitable society, VCOSS is supportive of Victoria’s anti-vilification laws being strengthened to provide greater protections for more Victorians. 

Vilification, also known as hate speech or conduct, undermines Victoria’s social cohesion. It can also cause great harm to individuals’ physical and mental health and wellbeing.  Ensuring every Victorian can fully participate in society relies on individuals having equal rights, protections and opportunities. 

This submission: 

  • Outlines our support for anti-vilification laws to be extended to protect more people.  
  • Urges some caution in regard to strengthening criminal offences. It is important that the proposed reforms mitigate against any risk of increasing criminalisation of the cohorts of Victorians that the reforms are designed to protect.  For example, the Federation of Community Legal Centres notes in their submission that community legal centres have expressed concern over anti-vilification laws being inadvertently used to silence legitimate public protests in breach of rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression. 
  • Welcomes the Victorian Government’s commitment to improving research and data collection and delivering education programs and community awareness campaigns. Changing the law is only one part of the solution, and we welcome additional initiatives that will help strengthen the community, drive behaviour change and ensure that everyone can fully participate in society.   

Recommendations

VCOSS supports the Victorian Government’s proposed reforms in principal, but advocates for the reform package to be strengthened by incorporating the following recommended measures: 

  1. Protect more Victorians from vilification: In addition to the proposed attributes, expand protected grounds to include sex worker status, homelessness, and immigration status and include a broad definition of disability.  
  1. Introduce a positive duty to prevent vilification: Establish a positive duty on organisations to prevent vilification. 
  1. Support a broad understanding of how the new laws would operate: Partner with communities to co-design information, education campaigns and the development of resources.  
  1. Resource community legal centres, other legal services and community sector organisations: Provide additional resourcing and investment in community legal centres and other legal services to assist people and communities targeted by vilification and ensure that funding is available to community sector organisations to provide advocacy and additional support services and programs (including, but not limited to, disability and LGBTIQ+ advocacy organisations and self-advocacy groups)

VCOSS is the peak body for Victoria’s social and community sector, and the state’s premier social advocacy body. We work towards a Victoria free from poverty and disadvantage, where every person and community experiences genuine wellbeing. Read more.

We welcome the opportunity to provide this input.

This work is authorised by VCOSS CEO Juanita Pope.

PRIMARY AUTHOR

VCOSS

VCOSS acknowledges the Traditional Owners of Country, and we pay respect to Elders and Ancestors. Our business is conducted on sovereign, unceded Aboriginal land. The VCOSS offices are located on Wurundjeri Woiwurrung land in central Naarm.