Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a major legislative push to combat hate groups, introducing a new framework that will empower Australia's domestic intelligence agency to target extremist organisations.
New Powers for Security Chief
The draft legislation, released by the Labor government, grants the Director-General of Security, who also heads the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (Asio), the authority to recommend that an organisation be formally proscribed as a hate group. This recommendation would then go to the Home Affairs Minister and require the written agreement of the Attorney-General before being presented to the Governor-General for listing.
The new listing regime will operate on a significantly lower threshold than the existing terrorist organisation list. To be designated, a minister must be satisfied on reasonable grounds that the group has engaged in, planned, or assisted hate crimes based on race, nationality, or ethnic origin. Advocacy of such crimes can also be considered.
Strict Penalties for Association and Leadership
The proposed laws introduce severe criminal penalties for involvement with a listed hate group. An individual found guilty of intentionally directing the activities of a proscribed group could face up to 15 years in prison. Membership, recruitment, training, or providing support to a designated organisation will also become criminal offences, mirroring restrictions currently applied to terrorist groups.
The bill states that a person can be deemed a member even without formal membership arrangements or if the group is based overseas, provided they are connected to and support it. A defence is available if a person can prove they took all reasonable steps to leave the group as soon as they knew it was listed.
Immediate Impact and Community Response
In a swift reaction to the impending laws, the neo-Nazi organisation the National Socialist Network (NSN) posted on Telegram that it would "fully disband" by 11.59pm on 18 January, the day before the bill is introduced to parliament. The group's co-projects, including the White Australia Party, will also dissolve.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke had previously singled out NSN and the Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir as potential targets of the new framework. The Executive Council of Australian Jewry welcomed the draft as a "significant step in the right direction" but called for the protections to be expanded to cover LGBTQ+ and disability communities, and criticised exemptions for quoting religious texts.
The legislative package, which the government aims to fast-track, also includes new hate speech and anti-vilification laws and provisions for what would be the largest gun buy-back scheme since the 1996 Port Arthur massacre.
