Save the Right to Protest in SA

The South Australian Government, with support from the Opposition, is attempting to rush new laws that will significantly restrict the right to peaceful protest in South Australia.

The Summary Offences (Obstruction of Public Places) Amendment Bill 2023 was rammed through the House of Assembly on 18 May and is being debated in the Legislative Council now!

If passed, it will increase the penalty for obstructing a public place by more than 60 times, exposing peaceful protestors to fines of up to $50,000 or a life-changing 3 month jail sentence.

The Bill also broadens the offence to include people who ...

The South Australian Government, with support from the Opposition, is attempting to rush new laws that will significantly restrict the right to peaceful protest in South Australia.

The Summary Offences (Obstruction of Public Places) Amendment Bill 2023 was rammed through the House of Assembly on 18 May and is being debated in the Legislative Council now!

If passed, it will increase the penalty for obstructing a public place by more than 60 times, exposing peaceful protestors to fines of up to $50,000 or a life-changing 3 month jail sentence.

The Bill also broadens the offence to include people who indirectly obstruct a public place.

These laws will have a chilling effect on South Australians' freedom to engage in peaceful protest action.

Without the right to come together, disturb and disrupt, to speak up against injustice we would not have the eight-hour working day, and women would not be able to vote.

Laws with human rights impacts should not be rammed through parliament in a matter of days. This is not how good laws are made.

+

Email your MLC - call on them to reject SA's rushed Anti-Protest Bill

Use our fast easy template to urgently email your South Australian MLC's today and call on them to reject the rushed Anti-Protest Bill

Find your local rep

Subject:

As an MLC you are elected to represent everyone in South Australia. Today, I call on you to stand up for our fundamental democratic rights by rejecting the rushed Summary Offences (Obstruction of Public Places) Amendment Bill 2023

I am really concerned by the way that this Anti-Protest Bill is being rammed through my Parliament without any meaningful scrutiny.

This is not how good laws are made.

The reforms will increase existing penalties by more than 60 times, imposing crippling fines of up to $50,000 or a life-changing 3 month prison sentence for obstructing any public place.

In addition to increasing penalties this Bill significantly broadens the offence by expanding it to include the indirect obstruction of public places.

There has been no proper scrutiny or consultation in relation to these reforms to make sure they are a reasonable, proportionate or constitutional limit on South Australians' fundamental democratic rights and freedoms.

This lack of scrutiny also risks creating a law with unintended consequences for anyone who uses public places in SA.

These laws will have a chilling effect on South Australians' freedom to participate in our democracy through peaceful protest. Without the right to come together, disturb and disrupt, to speak up against injustice we would not have the eight-hour working day, and women would not be able to vote.

Laws that limit our human rights should be properly examined and the community should be consulted about them.

I call on you to reject the Summary Offences (Obstruction of Public Places) Amendment Bill 2023 in its entirety.

How we use the data you enter on this form

Do Gooder (the advocacy platform powering this online action) processes personal information from you that you enter on this form so that we can provide the functions and related services to you and The Campaigner (the organisation responsible for this online action) for their legitimate purposes, including possibly exporting it to other systems, and to effectively respond to enquiries and communications related to those services.

Specifically when you enter:

Your location data (residential address or postcode) it is used to locate your elected representative, to pre-populate your email signature and to provide The Campaigner with a visualisation of the location of the support for this campaign.
All other data you may enter, including your email address, name, telephone number, commentary and so on is used by The Campaigner to advocate for the campaign’s goals and where required may be sent to the target of the campaign.

The data collected by Do Gooder is also used by us in aggregate form to improve the service and may be held on your behalf outside your country of residence by our third party service providers. These providers are bound by contract to only use personal information on our behalf, in accordance with agreed terms. While the privacy laws of the country in which personal information is stored or transferred may be different from those in your country, we will always have safeguards in place when storing or transferring personal information. We will never sell, rent, loan or in any other way pass your information on to other parties other than to provide this service to you and The Campaigner.

The personal information collected by Do Gooder is held subject to a Data Processing Agreement between Do Gooder and The Campaigner in compliance with the EU's GDPR and Australian law.

Learn more about our privacy policy here

How is my data used?