24/02/2026

The Western Australian Government's proposed laws to control protests and political gatherings, introduced last week, potentially undermine important aspects of open democracy, the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA) said today.

“We know that the community is concerned about the erosion of social cohesion and public safety. We share those concerns, but when the legislative response is an over-reach, we risk losing rights that we have always assumed were fundamental to our democracy,” said Graham Droppert SC, WA Director, Australian Lawyers Alliance.

“Once lost, the freedom to protest on a range of issues will not be restored even if current tensions on specific events subsides.”

The most serious undermining of freedom of speech lies in the Bill deeming that 'maintaining public safety' is the paramount consideration that police must use in regulating protests. 'Paramount consideration' is broadly defined and is not balanced against the legitimate considerations of those wishing to engage in peaceful protest.

“It is a very wide power which could be used by future governments to silence peaceful protest and dissent,” said Mr Droppert SC. “We need to be very careful that legitimate safety fears don’t override the long held right the public has to demonstrate and express their views in a peaceful way.”

In addition there are the powers given to the Police Commissioner or an authorised officer to refuse to grant a permit for a public meeting or protest if they 'have reasonable grounds for apprehending' that the meeting or protest 'may create, promote, or increase animosity towards, or harassment of, a person or group of persons who share, for example an ethnic or religious origin.'

“It is not hard to see circumstances where very little would be required to activate that power,” said Mr Droppert SC.

The Bill also allows police to revoke a permit for a protest or public meeting if ‘new information’ about the event becomes known to police. There is no requirement in the Bill for protest or public meeting organisers to be able to know of or rebut the new information and there is no definition of 'information'.

“While managing safety and community cohesion are critical, we are very concerned that this new legislation is weighted too heavily on the side of protest restriction,” said Mr Droppert SC.

“This challenge to freedom of speech and the right to protest is another example of why a human rights charter is critical for Western Australia. If a human rights charter existed, this legislation would be subject to careful and independent scrutiny.”