Offence of publicly inciting hatred on ground of race
93ZAA Offence of publicly inciting hatred on ground of race
A person commits an offence if—
the person, by a public act, intentionally incites hatred towards another person or a group of persons on the ground of race, and
the public act would cause a reasonable person who was the target of the incitement of hatred, or a reasonable person who was a member of a group of persons that was the target of the incitement of hatred, to—
fear harassment, intimidation or violence, or
fear for the reasonable person’s safety.
Maximum penalty—
for an individual—100 penalty units or imprisonment for 2 years, or both, or
for a corporation—500 penalty units.
Subsection (1) does not apply to an act that consists only of directly quoting from or otherwise referencing a religious text for the purpose of religious teaching or discussion.
In determining whether an alleged offender has committed an offence against this section, it is irrelevant—
whether the alleged offender’s assumptions or beliefs about the race of another person or a member of a group of persons were correct or incorrect when the offence is alleged to have been committed, or
whether or not, in response to the alleged offender’s public act, any person formed a state of mind or carried out an act of hatred.
A prosecution for an offence against this section may be commenced only by—
the Director of Public Prosecutions, or
a police officer.
In this section—
public act has the same meaning as in section 93Z.
race has the same meaning as in section 93Z.
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