The debate around amending Section 18C is a furphy: the law is there to guard against the most-damaging vilification, and very few cases end up in court.
Articles on Section 18C
Displaying 41 - 60 of 91 articles
The Constitution’s external affairs power does not support Section 18C. And the section also impermissibly infringes the implied freedom of political communication.
The government is “approaching this term with optimism”, according to the governor-general’s speech opening parliament. This is good to hear, because a more pessimistic character than Malcolm Turnbull…
Tony Abbott has exhorted the government to stand up for reform and avoid new spending that does not promote growth.
Malcolm Turnbull’s rhetoric this week has been designed to put the heat on Labor over budget repair. But he has three grassfires on his hands even before the new parliament starts on August 30 – and they’re…
David Leyonhjelm’s complaint over being called an ‘angry white male’ could showcase the difficulty in launching a successful action under Section 18C and undermine an argument in support of repeal.
An ACMA investigation of Andrew Bolt raises questions of fair and accurate reporting, the clash over facts, fair comment and the right of readers and viewers to be fully informed.
In highlighting the importance of retaining section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, shadow attorney general Mark Dreyfus said racial discrimination can make people sick.
Section 18C is limited in scope, and it would thus be wrong to claim that free speech carte blanche is under threat.
How will the oft-proclaimed ‘most successful multicultural nation in the world’ handle the rumbling of multiculturalism’s opponents?
Legislating against racial and religious vilification is highly fraught, as the ongoing debate around Section 18C has demonstrated, and unlikely to become less so any time soon.
The Institute of Public Affairs was founded by rich men with rich men’s interests at its core, albeit with obligatory nods to the national interest.
Multicultural issues may not decide the election. But the multicultural voting makeup of many marginal electorates will play a critical part in who wins these seats.
The Australian Law Reform Commission has given George Brandis a report that does all that it reasonably could, while falling well short of what it was asked to do.
The government’s uncontested assessment of national interest and security often trumps the rule of domestic and international law, as well as Australia’s obligations under human rights treaties.
Mainstream Australia isn’t allowed to define multicultural priorities, as the policy has no legislative legitimacy.
In all the politicking and government attacks on the ABC for giving a platform to former terror suspect Zaky Mallah, the free speech debate has become confused.
Early in 2014, federal Attorney-General George Brandis released a proposal to significantly amend our law against racial vilification, Sections 18C and 18D of the Racial Discrimination Act, on the strength…
Recent commentary about the so-called “French” idea of free speech is fuelling confusion and misinformation in the debate about Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 in Australia. Human Rights…
Let’s be clear about one thing as the loony right once more revisits with slavering lips their thwarted desire to allow racial vilification to run untrammelled through Australian society. Nothing that…
Top contributors
-
Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
-
Emeritus Professor of Sociology, University of Technology Sydney
-
Professor in Faculty of Law and Justice, UNSW
-
Deputy Executive Dean and Associate Dean (Academic), Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, The University of Queensland
-
Professor of Law; Kim Santow Chair of Law and Social Justice, University of Sydney
-
Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academic, University of Canberra
-
Associate professor, The University of Western Australia
-
Emeritus Professor, The University of Melbourne
-
Senior Lecturer in Law, University of Technology Sydney
-
Research Fellow, School of Law, The University of Queensland
-
Vice-Chancellor and President, University of Canberra
-
Professor of Race Relations, Deakin University
-
Professor of Law, University of Sydney
-
PhD Candidate in Law, Murdoch University
-
Pro Vice Chancellor Research, Western Sydney University