TL;DR: The NSW Government has officially rejected a key recommendation from a major independent review to expand criminal hate speech laws to protect people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups from incitement to hatred. Despite warnings from legal experts about creating a "two-tier" model of protection, the government cited concerns over free speech and legal consistency.
The Sackar Review and the Call for Uniformity
In late 2025, following a series of highly publicized antisemitic incidents, the Minns Labor government announced amendments to the NSW Crimes Act to make it illegal to incite hatred against individuals based on their race. This legislative move went against the recommendations of the NSW Law Reform Commission, which had advised against the changes. Because the final legislation only covered hate speech directed at race, other marginalized groups—including disability advocates and LGBTIQA+ organizations—strongly argued that they should be granted identical protections.
In response to these concerns, the NSW Government commissioned former Supreme Court judge John Sackar KC to conduct an independent review to assess whether criminal hate speech protections should be extended to additional vulnerable groups. Mr. Sackar completed his comprehensive review in November last year. However, the government withheld the report for several months, leading to a major parliamentary dispute with upper house MPs and the temporary suspension of Labor frontbencher John Graham.
When the Sackar review was finally made public, it revealed a clear recommendation: NSW hate speech laws should be expanded to include disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, and religion as protected attributes. Mr. Sackar warned that the current inconsistency in the law was highly "detrimental to social cohesion." He argued that having different standards of protection created a "hierarchical, two-tier model of protection" where some marginalized groups were legally valued less than others. He specifically recommended that disability be added as a protected attribute against incitement to both hatred and violence.
The Government's Rejection and Rationale
On Tuesday afternoon, alongside the public release of the Sackar review, Attorney-General Michael Daley released an official statement confirming that the Minns government had rejected the key recommendation to expand the criminal offence of inciting hatred to additional attributes.
According to Attorney-General Daley, the government determined that expanding the racial hatred offence to cover other groups raised "complex questions." Specifically, the government cited concerns regarding:
- The preservation of freedom of expression
- The preservation of freedom of religion
- The consistent and uniform application of criminal law across the wider community
As a result of this decision, inciting hatred against individuals based on their disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or religion will not be classified as a criminal offence under the NSW Crimes Act. Only incitement to racial hatred will remain a criminal offence.
The Existing Legal Framework and Community Safety
It is important to clarify that under existing NSW law, it remains illegal to incite violence against someone based on race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, intersex status, HIV status, or disability. However, the threshold for proving incitement to violence is significantly higher than proving incitement to hatred, which is why advocates pushed hard for the expansion.
Greens MP Amanda Cohn criticized the government's decision, pointing out that marginalized groups, including those with disabilities, are currently experiencing "worsening hatred and division." Advocates argue that by refusing to criminalize the incitement of hatred against disabled individuals, the government is leaving a major legal gap that fails to address harmful public rhetoric and online abuse before it escalates into physical violence.
Key Takeaways
- Recommendation Rejected: The NSW Government has rejected a key recommendation from the John Sackar KC review to expand criminal hate speech protections to people with disabilities.
- Two-Tier System Warned: Former Supreme Court judge John Sackar KC warned that excluding disability and other attributes creates a harmful "two-tier model of protection."
- Free Speech Concerns: Attorney-General Michael Daley defended the rejection, citing complex legal questions around freedom of expression and religion.
- Incitement to Violence Remains Illegal: While inciting hatred against disabled people remains legal under the Crimes Act, inciting violence against them remains a criminal offence.
