Australia’s Human Rights Law Centre (HRLC) urged the Victorian Government on Monday to reject proposals requiring protestors to get a police permit to protest, following the country’s recent shift to anti-protest measures .

Chaos erupted in Melbourne on Saturday as 24 hours of protest from different groups, with violent interactions at times between protestors, left three police officers injured. Groups like HRLC point out how protestors in Australia recently have been met with legislation incompatible with International Human Rights Law. In practice, the group notes these laws act to prevent protests even if not explicitly stated. For example, following protests in the region of New South Wales (NSW) by climate activists at the Sydney port, a legislation was passed criminalizing obstruction to a “major facility”. In Tasmania, following anti-logging protests, under Police Offences Amendment (Workplace Protection) Bill 2022,  obstructing a workplace could lead to prison time. Similarly, in Victoria, the  Sustainable Forests Timber Amendment (Timber Harvesting Safety Zones) Act 2022, also criminalized interfering with timber operations with consequences including prison and/or a fine.

HRLC quoted its senior lawyer, David Meija-Canales, who stated that, “[t]he right to protest is not a gift from the police or parliament, it is a fundamental right of all people in a healthy democracy. Having to ask for permission from the government to protest the government is not only absurd, it is an affront to democracy.”, echoing Article 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which provides that, “[e]veryone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association”.

In late 2023, some of the legislation enacted in NSW, which aimed to increase penalties for protestors, was held by the province’s  Supreme Court as unconstitutional.