NAVA raises concern over lack of clarity in new hate speech laws impacting artists
Media Release
Reports that Brisbane artist James Hillier (Nordacious) has been contacted by police and compelled to remove artworks from his website under Queensland’s new laws, alongside reports that police are investigating a mural by Scottie Marsh in South Brisbane (pictured), raise serious concerns about how these laws are being interpreted and enforced.
The Fighting Antisemitism and Keeping Guns Out of the Hands of Terrorists and Criminals Amendment Bill 2026, which passed through Queensland Parliament earlier this month, bans specific phrases and enables words, symbols and expressions to be criminalised if deemed to “menace, harass or offend”. The laws carry penalties of up to two years’ imprisonment and are already being referenced as a threat to artists’ work.
“These cases are showing how unclear these laws are in practice,” said Penelope Benton, Executive Director of the National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA). “The works reference a banned phrase through a well-known song lyric, alongside a portrait of John Farnham and a watermelon graphic. Yet they are being investigated or removed.”
Artists are being asked to take down or alter work without clear guidance on what crosses the line, raising questions about how these laws are being applied in practice.
“Visual art often engages with contested language and symbols, it is part of how artists reflect and respond to the world around them,” Benton said. “If even this kind of work is being scrutinised, artists cannot reasonably predict what will be considered unlawful. Free expression will be diminished if these laws are applied in this way. If we don’t address this now, we risk normalising the policing of artistic expression.”
NAVA is calling for urgent review of the legislation and clear protections to ensure artists are not unfairly targeted.
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About NAVA
The National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA) is a Membership organisation that brings together the many voices of the contemporary arts sector to improve fundamental conditions of work and practice. We do this through advocacy, education and the Code of Practice. For further information on NAVA visit www.visualarts.net.au
Image credit
River to the Sea, mural by Scottie Marsh, 2026. Peel Street South Brisbane. Photo courtesy the artist.
ID: A mural featuring the phrase, “River to the Sea”, alongside a portrait of John Farnham and two watermelon graphics on a painted blue background.
