Hate crime sits awkwardly in Victorian law. There is no standalone offence called “hate crime” on the statute book. Instead, prejudice motivation is treated as an aggravating factor at sentencing, and a separate civil and criminal regime under anti-vilification law deals with conduct that incites hatred. Our newsroom has unpacked how the pieces fit together, what the 2024 reforms changed, and how to report.
Victoria treats hate as an aggravator, not as a separate offence — and the recently expanded anti-vilification regime is the closest thing the state has to a dedicated hate-conduct law.
The aggravator: section 5(2)(daaa)
The anchor provision is section 5(2)(daaa) of the Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic). It directs courts, when sentencing for any offence, to take into account whether the offence was motivated wholly or partly by hatred for or prejudice against a group of people with common characteristics. Those characteristics include race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability or other relevant attribute.
This is not a new offence — it is a sentencing principle. The same conduct (an assault, a property damage, a stalking) is charged under its ordinary section. If the prosecution can prove prejudice motivation to the criminal standard, the sentence range moves up. The Court of Appeal has affirmed the principle in a series of decisions, and the Sentencing Advisory Council has published guidance on how the aggravator interacts with other factors.
In practice, prejudice motivation has to be flagged and pursued at the investigation stage to be available at sentence. That is why how an incident is logged matters from the first phone call.
The Racial and Religious Tolerance Act
The Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001 (Vic) covers vilification — conduct that incites hatred against, serious contempt for, or revulsion or severe ridicule of a person or group on the basis of race or religion. The Act has both civil and criminal limbs.
The civil limb is administered by the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission (VEOHRC). A complainant can lodge a complaint, conciliation can be attempted, and unresolved matters can go to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal. The criminal limb covers serious racial or religious vilification — conduct that intentionally incites hatred and threatens, or incites others to threaten, physical harm or property damage. Criminal prosecutions under the Act are rare, in part because the threshold is high and proof of intent is demanding.
The 2024 anti-vilification reforms
Victoria passed the Justice Legislation Amendment (Anti-vilification and Social Cohesion) Act 2024, expanding the protected attributes well beyond race and religion. The reforms, phased in across 2025 and 2026, add disability, gender identity, sex characteristics, sexual orientation and HIV/AIDS status to the vilification regime. The Act also restructures offences and lifts maximum penalties for serious vilification.
The expansion was contested. Faith-based organisations raised concerns that the broadened framework could chill discussion of religious teaching. LGBTIQA+ advocacy groups argued that the previous law left vulnerable communities without effective remedies and pointed to a long pattern of unresolved harassment. Both views were aired at length during the parliamentary inquiry. The compromise that emerged retained robust protections for genuine religious and academic discussion while expanding the categories of conduct that can attract civil and criminal consequences.
The Prejudice Investigation Division
Inside Victoria Police, prejudice-motivated crime is the responsibility of the Prejudice Investigation Division, often called the PID. The division sits within the Specialist Operations command. PID investigators work alongside local police and divisional taskforces on incidents flagged as prejudice-motivated, run intelligence on persistent offenders, and liaise with affected communities.
The PID does not displace local police as the first responders. A graffiti attack on a synagogue, a homophobic assault outside a venue, or threats sent to a mosque will be attended by the local divisional response and then escalated to PID where the prejudice motivation is clear or suspected. The division publishes an annual public statement on its work and has community advisory mechanisms.
Victoria Police also operates a public reporting form for prejudice-motivated crime. Reports can be made through any police station, online via the Police Assistance Line (131 444 for non-emergencies), or through Crime Stoppers (1800 333 000) anonymously. Where there is immediate danger, the call is to 000.
Reporting through VEOHRC
For incidents that are not crimes — for example, vilifying conduct in a workplace or on a service that does not meet the criminal threshold — the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission is the civil pathway. VEOHRC can:
- Receive a complaint and assess it for jurisdiction.
- Offer free conciliation between the parties.
- Refer the matter to VCAT if conciliation fails or is inappropriate.
- Provide information and education to organisations to prevent recurrence.
VEOHRC complaints can be lodged regardless of whether a police report has been made. The two systems run in parallel — one focused on criminal accountability, the other on civil remedy and behavioural change.
The under-reporting problem
Hate crime is the offence category most affected by under-reporting. The reasons are well-documented in research from the Crime Statistics Agency and academic centres: victims worry police will not take the matter seriously, fear repercussions from being identifiable in tight-knit communities, or believe the conduct is not “serious enough” to bother police with. Victoria Police has tried to address this with community liaison officers, multilingual reporting resources and explicit messaging that all incidents — including verbal abuse and graffiti — should be reported even where no charge follows.
Recording is also a bottleneck. For a prejudice motivation to inform sentencing, the investigator needs to capture witness accounts and physical evidence that demonstrate motivation. That work happens in the first 48 hours or it does not happen at all.
How to report
Our newsroom recommends the following steps if you witness or experience hate-motivated conduct:
- If you are in immediate danger, call 000.
- For incidents that have happened or are not urgent, call the Police Assistance Line on 131 444 or attend a police station. Ask the officer to record the prejudice motivation explicitly.
- Preserve evidence — screenshots, photographs of graffiti, witness contact details, the time and exact location.
- For online or anonymous reports, use Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
- For civil remedies (workplace, service provision, public-life vilification), consider VEOHRC at humanrights.vic.gov.au.
- For community-specific support, organisations like the Anti-Defamation Commission, the Islamic Council of Victoria, Equality Australia and the Australian Multicultural Foundation maintain incident-reporting and support pathways.
Where the law is heading
The 2024 reforms were the largest single change to Victoria’s vilification regime in two decades. Implementation will be the test. Police training, prosecutorial willingness to argue the aggravator, and judicial reasoning at sentence will determine whether the law on paper translates into the law as experienced. Independent monitoring by the Sentencing Advisory Council and VEOHRC will be the public yardstick. Communities that have lived with vilification for years will judge the reforms by whether reports are taken seriously, whether incidents are recorded with the prejudice motivation captured, and whether the courts use the tools the Parliament has given them.
Where to get help
If you are in danger now, call 000. Police non-emergency is 131 444. Crime Stoppers takes anonymous reports on 1800 333 000. VEOHRC takes civil complaints on 1300 292 153. For broader support, Lifeline is 13 11 14, 13YARN (13 92 76) is the culturally safe line for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander callers, QLife (1800 184 527) supports LGBTIQA+ people, and Beyond Blue is 1300 22 4636.
