The SMCA Legal Committee undertakes research on proposed law changes and other legal matters that may impact the Muslim community, and provides advice to the SMCA and its members.
Submission by the SMCA legal committee on review of section 93z of the Crimes Act.- June 2024
The NSW government Law Reform Commission is currently undertaking a review of laws related to racial and religious vilification and proposing some changes.
There are concerns that
– this law will be unfairly applied to Muslims especially when it comes to speaking about issues related to the oppression in Palestine Lebanon Yemen and other places.
– It may limit freedom of religious expression in general.
– The context of the review of the law relates to local protests that occurred after October 7.
The SMCA legal team, consisting of lawyers within our community, has drafted a strong and high quality response, and this has been submitted to the NSW LRC.
We would encourage our community members to read all, or part, of this submission, as it highlights many issues relevant to our local Muslim community.
To read the full submission click here: SMCA Submission on Proposed Changes to 93Z
Below is a brief excerpt from the submission
This data reflects the broader findings of the research on Islamophobia and anti-Muslim bigotry, and of particular note here, that there is a normalisation of anti-Muslim violence in media and social media. Islamophobia reflects broader trends in gendered violence in Australia too, with Australian Muslim women enduring most Islamophobia in Australia. This forms part of the broader direct and indirect discrimination experienced by Australian Muslims in various domains of life, such as employment.
We note that despite this prevalence of Islamophobia and anti-Muslim bigotry, it has been largely side-lined or ignored in the public discourse and political commentary on the present inquiry. In this way, Muslim marginalisation is experienced in political and legislative processes too.