Submission to the NSW Government Inquiry into Anti-Protest Laws

The Minns Government must protect the right to peaceful protest in NSW and scrap draconian anti-protest laws, said the Human Rights Law Centre. The current anti-protest laws in NSW are anti-democratic, disproportionate and violate international human rights law, in particular the freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

The current laws, which were rushed through in April 2022 in 30 hours, deliberately target protesters, threatening everyone from school children marching for climate action to anti-war protestors with up to two years in jail and a $22,000 fine.

The Human Rights Law Centre, in its submissions to a review of the laws, recommended: 

• Repealing the April 2022 anti-protest amendments to current laws

• Reviewing the 'protest permit' system

• A legislated Human Rights Act in New South Wales 

Read our submission to the Review into the Roads Act 1993 here 
Read our submission to the Review into the Crimes Act 1900 here