You can download and read our submission to the legislative reviews of NSW anti-protest laws here.
Key points:
- NSW Police have used the threat of the new offences to intimidate and constrain protest contrary to the stated intention of the Act to strike a proper balance between the right to protest and other uses of public space.
- The repeated and systematic misrepresentation of the Form 1 system has the effect of denying protest organisers the right to protest urgent matters without facing the possibility of charges under the 2022 laws.
- Policing of protest has grown increasingly violent and invasive, with police more readily conducting home visits, property searches, deploying arrest powers and excessive use of force. This has had a particular impact on gender-diverse people who have been subject to harassment in police custody.
Recommendations: - Crimes Act s214A and s144G should be repealed.
- Barring repeal of the entire section, s214(1)(c) and (d) and s14G(2) should be repealed
- A review should be carried out into introducing a Human Rights Act for NSW to ensure the right to protest is protected.
- A review should be undertaken of the Summary Offences Act protections for protest and whether their operation facilitates the exercise of the right to protest.
Legal Observers NSW 