{"id":140875,"date":"2025-08-12T23:17:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T23:17:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/140875\/"},"modified":"2025-08-12T23:17:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-12T23:17:14","slug":"victorias-new-anti-protest-laws-to-be-watered-down-amid-pushback-from-human-rights-groups-and-unions-victorian-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/140875\/","title":{"rendered":"Victoria\u2019s new anti-protest laws to be watered down amid pushback from human rights groups and unions | Victorian politics"},"content":{"rendered":"

Proposed anti-protest laws in Victoria<\/a> \u2013 including an outright ban on face masks at protests \u2013 will be significantly scaled back after pushback by human rights groups and unions.<\/p>\n

Several sources involved in the consultation process, some of whom have requested anonymity as the bill\u2019s wording is not finalised, have said that roundtable discussions in April prompted concessions from the Allan government.<\/p>\n

This included dropping plans for a full ban on \u201cface coverings\u201d at protests, which was planned to carry a fine of up to $2,000. Instead, it is understood the government will propose penalties only when a person wearing a face covering is refusing to cooperate with police or believed to be committing a criminal act.<\/p>\n

A senior Victorian government source said such a measure, combined with anti-vilification laws set to take effect in September<\/a>, would allow authorities to \u201cunmask\u201d neo-Nazis, who marched through Melbourne\u2019s CBD in face coverings<\/a> at the weekend.<\/p>\n

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Anastasia Radievska, protest rights campaigner at the Australian Democracy Network, said the shift was the result of \u201cbroad opposition\u201d to the plan<\/a>, including by human rights, legal, faith, First Nations and disability rights groups.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe prohibition on masks has serious impacts on community health, the participation of people with disabilities, the participation of victim-survivors of domestic and sexual violence in protest. It\u2019s not an appropriate way to address the problems of racist violence, which is what the laws were advertised as tackling,\u201d Radievska said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese groups have worked to ensure that any restrictions that are introduced \u2013 although we\u2019ve argued that Victoria doesn\u2019t need new protest restrictions \u2013 are appropriately targeted and don\u2019t impact on the participation of these vulnerable groups in protests, and actually target radicalised violence and hate.\u201d<\/p>\n

An outright ban on attachment devices such as chains, glue or locks, which are commonly used in climate protests<\/a>, is also expected to be narrowed and will apply only when there is a community safety risk.<\/p>\n

This would mean non-violent acts such as those committed by Zelda D\u2019Aprano \u2013 who is immortalised in bronze outside Trades Hall after she chained herself to a government building to protest against the lack of equal pay for women \u2013 would not be affected.<\/p>\n

The proposal for \u201csafe access\u201d areas around places of worship, which was also floated by the government in December, has been described by several stakeholders as \u201cdead in the water\u201d. But this was disputed by the government source who said it was still being considered, though was proving \u201cincredibly complex\u201d.<\/p>\n

However, a ban on the display of terrorist symbols at protests is likely to proceed, despite reservations about how \u201cterrorist organisation\u201d could be defined.<\/p>\n

Stakeholders were initially told the changes would be introduced when parliament resumed after the midwinter break but the timeline has now shifted to the end of the year.<\/p>\n

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The premier, Jacinta Allan, told reporters on Tuesday the laws would not be aimed at protests but at extremist behaviour.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople who are taking the opportunity to engage in extreme and dangerous behaviour under the guise of participating in a protest \u2013 that\u2019s what the new laws will be cracking down on,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

It comes after Victoria\u2019s new police chief, Mike Bush, ruled out a permit system for protests in a series of interviews last month, noting they had not been effective in other states.<\/p>\n

Labor\u2019s rank and file has also pushed back, with state conference carrying a motion earlier this month calling on the government to abandon its proposed changes.<\/p>\n

\u201cInconvenience is not a form of violence,\u201d it said, noting several wins of the labour movement were only possible as a result.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Proposed anti-protest laws in Victoria \u2013 including an outright ban on face masks at protests \u2013 will be…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":140876,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4740,50],"class_list":{"0":"post-140875","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-australia","9":"tag-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115018350429873048","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140875"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140875\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}