Origins and initial outcomes of the Racial Hatred Act 1995

In 1992 the former Labor Government proposed a Bill to apply criminal and civil sanctions against perpetrators of racial vilification. In 1995, after prolonged Parliamentary and community debate, the Bill was passed as an amendment to the 1975 Racial Discrimination Act, but with civil sanctions only. Preliminary data on its first months of operation show that approximately 112 complaints have been made and that eight of these have been resolved. Copyright. Monash University and the author/s