Gender in Hate Crime Legislation in Australia

• In Event: Roundtable: Examining the Place of Gender Within Hate Crime Law: An International Discussion

Abstract

The Australian hate crime backdrop is significant in how it differs fundamentally from the situation in the US, for example, in how cases utilising these frameworks can only be initiated by people in the community, not by police or human rights commissions. This presentation will review the status of hate crime frameworks in Australia with specific reference to the category of gender and how this is conceptualised. It will review the manner in which this category has been used to prosecute offenders in Australia, if at all. It will also examine specific policing issues related to gender-based hate crime investigations and reporting processes in an Australian context, and consider how Australian criminal and anti-discrimination laws deal with gender-based vilification using the case study context of violence against women in social media.

Authors

• Angela Dwyer, University of Tasmania

• Melanie O'Brien, University of Queensland