Comment on Dissent bar closure

Comment on Dissent bar closure

STATEMENT ONLY

20 February 2026

The ACT Human Rights Commission does not offer comment on compliance with Commonwealth laws or the Australian Federal Police actions in removing posters from a Canberra café this week.

We note, however, that provisions in the ACT Discrimination Act, which is legislation within the ACT Human Rights Commission’s remit, make it unlawful to incite hatred, revulsion of, serious contempt for, or severe ridicule of a person or group of people on the ground of race, religion, gender identity and other protected attributes. It is not unlawful if the act is reasonably done for artistic or academic purposes or for another purpose in the public interest.

While the Commission offers a conciliation service with respect to alleged discrimination or vilification under the Discrimination Act, rather than serving as a decision-maker in the way a Tribunal or Court does, we note the Dissent Cafe owners’ advice that the posters are clearly satirical and are artistic works.

We also understand some people may find the posters offensive, hence the complaint to the AFP, but there is a balance struck in ACT civil and criminal provisions to ensure freedom of expression and artistic endeavours are not inadvertently casualties of efforts to eliminate hate crime and hate speech from our community.

The Commission is committed to maintaining social cohesion and the elimination of vilification that causes harm to vulnerable groups in our community covered by the Discrimination Act. The misapplication of laws can have a negative effect on social cohesion.

We note comments by the Arts Law Centre CEO Louise Buckingham who said she believed this incident would test how the new Commonwealth laws, which prohibit displaying prohibited symbols, impact artists and artistic expression and potentially have a chilling effect.

The ACT Government has announced it will review its own frameworks for dealing with hate crime this year and the Commission encourages the community to engage with that process to ensure the right balance is struck when considering hate crime, serious vilification and freedom of expression and that frameworks continue to reflect the values of the ACT community.

Karen Toohey - Discrimination Commissioner

Penelope Mathew - Human Rights Commissioner

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