Abstract
If At First You Don’t Succeed…
A national review into how Australia’s justice system deals with sexual violence is underway, scrutinising our patchwork of sexual assault laws, police processes and court procedures, and recommending reforms. The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) will report on how to better serve victims and survivors of sexual violence, who often report feeling traumatised when they take allegations to police and the court system. Consent laws vary between states and territories, and the ALRC will consider an ‘affirmative consent’ model that requires people to communicate consent during sexual activity and take steps to ensure the other person is also consenting. It will also examine different justice approaches outside the adversarial court system, police responses, and whether better support can be offered to victims and survivors. And guess what! The review is being conducted by two extraordinarily qualified and experienced women judges; South Australian judge Liesl Kudelka and former Victorian judge Marcia Neave will report to the Attorney-General (A-G) by January 2025. Even though it is easy to be disheartened at the number of recommendations for change which have been thwarted by police and court processes, please make your voices heard by participating. (Natassia Chrysanthos, ‘Sexual assault laws to be focus of national review’, The Age, 21 January 2024.)
The Long Haul
The long, hard, hike along the rocky road to regulating extreme hate speech marches onwards with surprise backing from erstwhile opponents. Many Christian organisations have given the green light to the Labor government’s proposed federal discrimination act making it politically more difficult for the Coalition opposition to continue blocking its progress. The government intends to include new measures to protect people from hate speech and vilification based on their faith when it seeks to legislate religious discrimination laws this year. The federal opposition has opposed using civil discrimination laws to prevent vilification but, with key Christians shifting gear, it may be full steam ahead if the new law is ‘drafted in a way that does not hamper their religious teachings’.
A letter to the A-G Mark Dreyfus in 2023 was signed by about 20 leaders from varied faith groups, as well as Christian Schools Australia, the Australian National Council of Imams and the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.
‘We support in principle, the introduction of your proposed prohibition on religious vilification’, the letter states. ‘Christian faith groups on the whole do not seek these protections for themselves, and stress the importance of avoiding any drafting that could be used to restrict genuine religious teaching, or discussion or proselytising. But support them for the sake of other (especially Islamic and Jewish) faith groups.’ (Lisa Visentin, ‘Christian groups back Labor’s plan to tackle hate speech’, Sydney Morning Herald, 21 January 2024.)
Sophie Rules
Australian Rules Football has been famous for its many great players and notorious for its racism and violence which have been mentioned in many Royal Commissions and other inquiries. In recent years, women’s footy has emerged as a mighty and highly popular force of fabulous players. Sophie, at 13 years of age, has already experienced racism in the game. She hopes to be an AFLW player one day and has not been afraid to call out racism. Sadly, she's already experienced racial vilification on the field. Her dad's side of the family is from Mutitjulu community, her mother is from the Tiwi Islands, and Sophie was born in Alice Springs and grew up in Darwin. During a recent junior league game, she was called a racist name by a member of the opposing team. The umpire didn’t hear it, but Sophie and her team mates did and together they called it out. ‘I don't let it define me or change my love for the game’, she said. ‘I'm the granddaughter of a survivor of the Stolen Generations. Trust me when I say, you can't break us.’
(Kate Ashton, ‘Sophie was called a racist name on the footy field. She’s not letting it bring her down’, ABC News, 23 January 2024 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-23/sophie-aboriginal-teenager-racism-junior-footy/103032254.)