Criminal Code Act 1899

A person who publicly recites, publicly distributes, publishes or publicly displays a prohibited expression in a way that might reasonably be expected to cause a member of the public to feel menaced, harassed or offended commits an offence, unless the person has a reasonable excuse.Maximum penalty—150 penalty units or 2 years imprisonment.

Without limiting what may be a reasonable excuse for subsection (1), a person has a reasonable excuse if—

any of the following apply—

the person engaged in the conduct that is alleged to constitute the offence for a genuine artistic, religious, educational, historical, legal or law enforcement purpose;

the person engaged in the conduct that is alleged to constitute the offence for a purpose that is in the public interest;Examples for subparagraph (ii)—

• publication of a fair and accurate report of an event or matter of public interest

• a genuine political or other genuine public dispute or issue carried on in the public interest

the person engaged in the conduct that is alleged to constitute the offence in opposition to the ideology represented by the prohibited expression; and

the person’s conduct was, in the circumstances, reasonable for that purpose.

An evidential burden is placed on the defendant in relation to showing a reasonable excuse for subsection (1).

For subsection (1), a person publicly recites or publicly displays a prohibited expression if the person—

recites or displays the expression—

in a place that the public is entitled to use, is open to members of the public or is used by the public, whether or not on payment of money; or

in a place the occupier of which allows, whether or not on payment of money, members of the public to enter; or

recites or displays the expression in a way that is audible or visible from a place mentioned in paragraph (a).

To remove any doubt, it is declared that, for subsection (1)—

the offence is committed at the time when the person recites, distributes, publishes or displays the prohibited expression; and

it is irrelevant whether or not a member of the public has heard or seen the prohibited expression because of the recital, distribution, publication or display.

In this section—prohibited expression means either of the following expressions—

‘from the river to the sea’;

‘globalise the intifada’.