The Turnbull government says its move to change Australia's 22 year-old race hate laws will help protect free speech.
If the reforms pass through parliament, it will no longer be illegal to "offend", "insult" or "humiliate" someone on the basis of their race.
The Prime Minister says replacing those terms with the word "harass" will make the law more effective and less restrictive.
But the opposition has vowed to rally against the changes with ethnic community groups.
On national Harmony Day, conservatives and moderates within the Coalition have reached a consensus on changes to the Racial Discrimination Act.
In the next fortnight, the government will introduce a bill to change the wording of section 18-C.
Malcolm Turnbull says words like "insult" and "offend" are too subjective, while "harass" is a more legal term.
Announcing the change, the Prime Minister referred to the failed case against Bill Leak, the controversial cartoonist who died earlier this month.
