What is a hate crime, hate incident, or serious vilification

There is no place in Australia for hatred of any kind.

Everyone, no matter who they are or what they believe, should be able to enjoy their life in any Australian community, without prejudice or discrimination.

Hate can have a serious impact

Prejudice and bias can harm individuals, families, and communities.

Hate incidents, hate crimes and serious vilification are all motivated by hate towards a person or group because of who they are, what they believe, or the community they belong to.

These behaviours can:

• make people feel unsafe or excluded
• create division within communities
• reduce trust in public spaces and institutions
• impact a person's wellbeing and sense of belonging
• weaken community connections and social cohesion.

Explore the sections below to understand what each term means and how they differ.

Types of hate-motivated behaviour

Not all hate-motivated behaviour is treated the same under the law.

Hate incidents, hate crimes, and serious vilification have different legal meanings, but each can have a significant impact on individuals, families and communities.

The sections below explain how they differ and when they should be reported.

Hate crime

In Victoria, a hate crime is an act or behaviour motivated wholly or partly by hatred or prejudice towards a person or group of people because of their attributes or characteristics which include:

• race, nationality, ethnicity, cultural background, language
• religion, faith, religious appearance
• sex, sex characteristics, intersex status
• sexuality, sexual orientation, sexual identity
• gender, gender identity
• disability
• political opinion
• homelessness
• age.

Examples of hate crime

Examples of hate crime include:

• practice or conduct directed towards a person whether with or without the persons consent to change or suppress their sexual orientation or gender identity
• physically assaulting someone because of their race, religion, disability, sex, sexuality or gender identity
• threatening violence because of a person's identity
• intentionally damaging a person's home, vehicle or other property because of prejudice
• vandalising or damaging a synagogue, church, mosque, temple or other place of worship because of prejudice towards a religious community
• graffiti, vandalism or criminal damage targeting a community
• publicly displaying Nazi symbols or performing a Nazi gesture.

If you have experienced or witnessed a hate crime, please make a report.

Hate incidents

A hate incident is an act or behaviour, motivated by hatred or prejudice, towards a person or group of people but does not meet the legal threshold of a crime.

Although it may not be a criminal offence, a hate incident can still have a significant impact on the individual, their family, and their community.

If you notify Victoria Police, we can use this information to respond to the act or behaviour. This creates a safer community for everyone.

Examples of hate incidents

Examples of hate incidents may include:

• racial, religious or homophobic slurs
• mocking or humiliating someone because of who they are
• offensive gestures
• online abuse or harassment
• behaviour that makes a person feel targeted, intimidated or excluded because of their identity.

Reporting hate incidents helps Victoria Police understand, respond to, and monitor hate-related behaviour.

If you have experienced or witnessed a hate incident, please make a report.

Serious vilification

Under Victorian law, serious vilification can involve threatening physical harm, or property damage, or encouraging hatred, or violence against a person or group because of a protected attribute.

These offences are intended to address the most serious forms of hate and prejudice-based motivated conduct.

Understanding protected attributes

For conduct to meet the legal definition of a serious vilification offence, it must be linked to a protected attribute.

While hate incidents and hate crimes may be motivated by a broad range of characteristics or perceived characteristics, the protected attributes that apply to serious vilification offences are limited to those defined in Victorian law.

The protected attributes are:

• disability
• gender identity
• race
• religious belief or activity
• sex
• sex characteristics
• sexual orientation
• association with a person who has one of these attributes.

If the behaviour is not linked to one of these protected attributes, it may still be a hate incident or hate crime, but it will not meet the legal definition of a serious vilification offence.

Examples of serious vilification

Serious vilification may include:

• public hate speech
• publicly encouraging violence against a person or group
• online posts intended to promote hatred or hostility
• distributing hateful material
• displaying prohibited extremist symbols to promote hatred or violence
• sharing material that encourages hatred, contempt or violence.

If you have experienced or witnessed serious vilification, please make a report.

Forms of hate and prejudice

Hate-motivated behaviour can affect many different communities.

This includes antisemitism, Islamophobia, racism, and other forms of prejudice directed towards people because of who they are, what they believe, or the communities they belong to.

Examples include:

• antisemitism
• islamophobia
• anti-Christian discrimination
• anti-Hindu discrimination
• anti-Sikh discrimination
• racism directed towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
• racism directed towards African, Asian, Middle Eastern and Pasifika communities
• prejudice based on disability
• prejudice based on sexual orientation
• prejudice involving change or suppression practices
• prejudice based on gender identity
• prejudice based on sex, including hostility or hate directed towards women and girls.

These behaviours can occur in private and in public places, workplaces, schools, community settings, and online.

Hate symbols and extremist behaviour

Hate symbols, gestures, and extremist messaging can intimidate communities, spread hatred and encourage violence.

These behaviours can make people feel unsafe and contribute to harm within the community.

Extremist groups may use symbols, gestures and messaging to:

• promote hateful ideologies
• intimidate individuals and communities
• encourage division and undermine social cohesion
• normalise harmful behaviour
• recruit or influence others.

Recognising these symbols and behaviours can help people understand when a report may be needed.

Disturbing religious assembly

In Victoria it is a criminal offence to intentionally interrupt or interfere with a religious assembly/religious worship meeting.

It is also an offence to engage in conduct to intimidate, menace, harass, hinder or obstruct persons attending a religious assembly/religious worship meeting.

It is also a criminal offence to assault a person attending, arriving or leaving a religious assembly/religious worship meeting.

Nazi symbols or gestures in Victoria

A prohibited Nazi symbol or gesture is a symbol, image or gesture associated with Nazi ideology that is prohibited under Victorian law.

Common examples include:

• the Nazi Hakenkreuz (commonly referred to as the Nazi swastika)
• symbols used by the Nazi Party
• the Nazi salute, where an arm is extended out in front of the body with the hand flat and palm facing down.

These symbols and gestures are associated with hatred, discrimination, and violence.

The public display of Nazi symbols or Nazi gestures or the performance of Nazi gestures associated with the Nazi Party is a criminal offence in Victoria.

It is also a criminal offence to refuse a lawful police direction to remove a prohibited Nazi symbol or Nazi gesture from public view.

Whether an offence has occurred depends on the circumstances and the applicable law.

Learn more about prohibited Nazi symbols and Nazi gestures and related Victorian laws on the Victorian Government website.

Terrorist Organisation Symbols

The public display of a terrorist organisation symbol is a criminal offence in Victoria.

Refer to the Australian National Security Website for the listed terrorist organisations.

It is also a criminal offence to refuse a lawful police direction to remove a terrorist organisation symbol from public display.

How Victoria Police works to prevent and respond to hate

Victoria Police investigates hate crime, responds to reports of hate motivated behaviour, and works with communities to help keep people safe.

We focus on preventing harm, supporting affected communities, and holding offenders to account.

Tracking hate related behaviour

Reports help us understand patterns, identify emerging issues and improve our response to hate-motivated behaviour across Victoria.

Victoria Police contributes to the National Hate Crime Database to help identify trends and strengthen responses.

Monitoring hate-motivated behaviour also helps identify risks to community safety and social cohesion.

Learn more about the National Hate Crimes Database.

Working with local communities

Victoria Police works with local communities to build trust, improve understanding and strengthen community safety.

This includes working alongside community organisations, faith groups, schools, youth programs, and Community Liaison Officers.

These partnerships help police understand local concerns, improve communication, and ensure services are accessible to diverse communities.

If you need direct support when engaging with police, support and communications assistance is available.

Building safer communities

Victoria Police contributes to initiatives that help prevent hate-related behaviour and improve community safety.

This includes:

• community engagement programs
• collaboration with partner organisations
• preventative policing activities
• contributing to the National Hate Crime Database to better understand trends and improve responses.

Examples of initiatives that support community safety and trust include:

• our Neighbourhood Policing programs
• steps outlined in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Inclusion Action Plan 
• principles and values outlined in A Safe Victoria, and,
• local Eyewatch Facebook pages.

Strengthening our capability

Victoria Police treats every person with dignity and respect, regardless of their background, beliefs, or identity.

To help build a safer and more inclusive Victoria, we continue to strengthen our own capability by:

• partnering with diverse communities and faith groups
• listening to feedback from communities and stakeholders
• providing training and education for employees
• developing policies and practices that support respectful and inclusive policing
• promoting a workplace culture that values diversity and inclusion.

By strengthening our understanding of different communities and experiences, we can better support victims, respond to reports and build trust across Victoria.

Addressing hate

There is no place in our society for hatred of any kind.

Every person should be able to enjoy life without hatred, prejudice, or discrimination.

If you see or experience hate or prejudice, do not put up with it; speak up and report it.

Information about hate crimes and incidents, and how to report them

How to report signs of possible terrorism