Australia continues to consider how it will respond legislatively to the horrific mass shooting of Jewish-Australians on December 14 at Bondi Beach in Sydney. While the country’s two most populous states — New South Wales and Victoria — are considering their own new legislation, on Monday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stated that his cabinet was considering a range of new hate speech laws at the federal level.

These potential new laws include increasing penalties for existing hate speech offenses, advocating violence or property destruction against protected groups; making hate motivation a factor in sentencing for federal crimes; listing prohibited hate organizations and making it a criminal offence to join, recruit or support these organizations; making the promotion of racial supremacy an offense; increasing the powers of the Home Affairs minister to cancel visas for anyone suspected of engaging in vilification, hate........

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