The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) welcomes the opportunity to make a submission on the Exposure Draft of the Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism Bill 2026 (the Bill). APAN is a national civil society organisation advocating for the freedom, justice and self-determination of the Palestinian people in accordance with international law.
APAN considers the Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism Bill 2026, in its current form, to be fundamentally flawed and unfit to proceed. While APAN supports strong and effective measures to combat antisemitism and all forms of racism, hate and extremism, the Bill as drafted is overly broad, relies on lowered fault thresholds and retrospective assessment, and confers expansive criminal, administrative and migration powers with insufficient safeguards.
Taken together, these features create a real risk that lawful political expression, peaceful protest, journalism, academic debate and human rights advocacy – including advocacy relating to Palestine – will be chilled or penalised, without addressing the conduct the Bill is intended to stop. In a highly politicised enforcement environment, the Bill risks formalising pathways through which legitimate Palestinian advocacy and political participation may be mischaracterised as hateful or extremist, with serious legal and administrative consequences.
APAN supports firm action against violence, intimidation and genuine incitement, and recognises the profound harms caused by hate-motivated conduct. Our concerns do not go to the objective of addressing antisemitism or hate crime laws, but to the Bill’s lack of precision, proportionality, legal certainty and fairness. Without substantial amendment, the Bill risks targeting lawful speech, peaceful advocacy, refugee communities and civil society activity, rather than violence or genuine incitement.
Accordingly, APAN’s submission is focused on ensuring that the Bill’s measures are clear, narrow and workable in practice.
Ultimately, APAN believes that the Bill is fundamentally flawed and must not be proceeded with in its current form.
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