The Government is committed to allowing all Tasmanians to express their views reasonably and in accordance with their beliefs, as the right to free speech is a fundamental tenet of our democracy.
The Government has today released draft legislation for public comment that proposes changes to the Anti-Discrimination Act 1998.
The proposed changes seek to strike the right balance between providing protection from discrimination and unlawful conduct, while still allowing for genuine public debate and discussion on important issues.
The Bill also seeks to make clearer the ground rules for everyone wishing to express views in any public debate.
The Bill seeks to amend the current exception provisions relating to freedom of speech to:
Importantly, the Bill will not allow for hate speech under section 55 of the Act, as falsely claimed by some.
Section 55 already provides an exception for a public act done in good faith for academic, artistic, scientific or research purposes, or for any purpose in the public interest. All we are proposing is to add “religious purposes” to this, and specifying that it must be done “reasonably” and in good faith. This is consistent with provisions in interstate jurisdictions such as NSW and Victoria.
In other words, it does not provide a blanket exception.
We support balanced free speech for all Tasmanians, and these changes will ensure the Act allows appropriate protection for genuine respectful public debate and discussion.
The draft Anti-Discrimination Amendment Bill is available online now at www.justice.tas.gov.au