Religious Vilification Laws

The Hon. J.S. LEE (Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (14:44): Supplementary: the Attorney-General mentioned representation already being made to the government. Can the Attorney-General outline which groups have actually made representations?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (14:44): I thank the honourable member for her question. I think in the representations that have certainly been made to me there would be an expectation of privacy in those representations, so I'm not going to talk about the private representations that have been made in relation to that.

I might also point out that it has been, for at least three or four years, something that can be taken into account in sentencing considerations. So although not a standalone law in terms of religious vilification, it is certainly something that—I think since about 2020 or 2021; I remember we passed it in this chamber during the last term—can be a consideration in terms of sentencing, so within our criminal law it is something that can be taken into account in relation to crimes that are committed against a person based on their religion.