Antisemitism Report 2009 - World Jewish Congress

7.6 State and Territory Anti-Racism Laws and Criminal Law
All Australian States and the Australian Capital Territory had legislation supplementary to
the Federal Act. Queensland also amended and greatly broadened and strengthened
legislation in this field during the early part of 2001. The success and utility of these laws is
a matter of on-going debate. Some shortcomings were brought in to focus in the attempts by
a Melbourne victim of an antisemitic assault, in which the perpetrators were swiftly
identified, to achieve recourse and have the victims appropriately penalised.
In past years there have been actions taken by local councils, public authorities and
corporations to ensure that the laws have not been breached, as well as many successful
conciliations of complaints lodged under NSW and ACT law.
In Victoria, a decision was taken in June 2009 to amend that State‘s Sentencing Act to allow
judges to take into account whether a particular crime was motivated by hate, after
discussions involving Jewish community organisations on antisemitism and other racist
activity.
7.7 Media
7.7.1 The Australian Press Council
A voluntary regulatory body, the Australian Press Council was, until the passage of antiracism
laws in a number of states and now federally, the most significant body which
considered complaints of antisemitism. Although it no longer plays the same key role, it
remains another arena for disputes to be resolved over questions relating to racism and
antisemitism. In November 2003, The Australian Press Council "upheld in part" a
complaint against The Sydney Morning Herald for publishing, in August 2003, a cartoon
that juxtaposed images of the Warsaw Ghetto and the wall being built by Israel on the West
Bank. The judgement said "the council agrees that the cartoon was so offensive as to breach
its principles …".
The Australian Press Council in Annual Report No. 33, 30 June 2009, recorded an increase
in complaints under the heading ―racism; religious disparagement from 34 to 43 in the year
in review, accounting for 8.5% of all complaints (as against an average of 5.9% over a 20
year period).
7.7.2 The Australian Broadcasting Authority
The Australian Broadcasting Authority sets and enforces broad community standards. The
complexities of applying the legalistic and bureaucratic procedures to the real-time world of
electronic media, however, renders this body problematic as an agency to combat racism and
antisemitism. It does speak with some moral authority however and should not be totally
disregarded.
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