The New South Wales government has launched a public awareness campaign to help victims of racially-fuelled threats and abuse understand their legal rights.
The campaign is titled Stop Public Threats. Having launched on Monday night, it includes promotional posters bearing the slogan: "public threats against some of us, a problem for all of us".
NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman said he hoped it would encourage people to report threats of race-related violence to the police for investigation.
Offenders can face up to three years in prison, he added.
“A criminal law was introduced in 2018 in NSW. It makes it a criminal offence to threaten or incite violence on the basis of someone’s race, religion, gender sexuality,” he said.
“We need to work together to combat abusive and violent behaviour that discriminates against cultural or religious groups as well as other sections of our community.”
The Australian Human Rights Commission has recorded a spike in racial discrimination since the outbreak of coronavirus, particularly against Asian-Australians.
In February, the commission received the highest number of racial discrimination complaints this financial year.
