As hate crimes against the LGBTQIA+ community rise, Victoria has introduced a new and simple way to report what’s happening that doesn’t involve going to the police: the Community Reporting Tool (CRT).
“If you can’t name it or count it, you can’t fix it,” Minister for Equality Steve Dimopoulos said at the launch of the new Community Reporting Tool at Transgender Victoria’s Affirmation Station.
The CRT is a way to report discrimination, sexual harassment, hate speech, vilification, victimisation, human rights concerns, or conversion (i.e. change or suppression) practices without making a formal complaint.
The tool comes as LGBTQIA+ people continue to face targeted and hateful attacks both online and in person, with a particularly noticeable increase over the last three years.
QNews continues to report on the targeting of drag entertainers and transgender and nonbinary people playing sport, as well as attacks on men who have sex with men via dating apps and social media.
The findings from the Parliamentary Inquiry into anti-LGBTQIA+ hate crimes in Victoria highlighted how much of this goes unreported. Some fear taking their complaints to the authorities, while for others the reality is that the system simply is not set up to support the needs of our community.
This is where the CRT is intended to help.
The new and simple online portal is where you can report something that you have experienced, or witnessed, to the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission.
The reports will help government, communities, policymakers and law reform advocates understand what is happening in the community to help others.
Related Content:
- What we’ve learned from the Vic Parliamentary Inquiry into anti-LGBTQIA+ hate crimes
- Six years of Lyle Shelton suggesting I’m a danger to children because I’m a drag queen
- What I learned at Thorne Harbour’s Grindr Safety Community Forum
Every report builds the evidence of what we already know and live with
The CRT is said to be easy and confidential to use, with each report asking what happened, when and where.
The information will only seen by the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission.
They will use it to inform the government and other organisations what is happening in the community.
“It’s very important for us to be able to record data around all of the nuance of transgender-focused hate, particularly to have a less formal, justice-oriented reporting pathway,” said CEO of Transgender Victoria, Son Vivian.
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“This is a great tool for trans and gender diverse community.
“We are often targets of hate, sexual harassment and violence and we’re very happy to actually have an option as a tool that gives us choice around how and when we report.”
Minister for Equality Steve Dimopoulos acknowledged Switchboard, Thorne Harbour and the “extraordinary work” of people in the room at the CRT launch whose advocacy and lived experience helped to bring the CRT into existence.
“Our community has suffered so much,” he said. “I want to acknowledge the trauma genuinely that exists in our community and in this room and beyond. The hate crimes inquiry in the Victorian Parliament, which concluded recently and which people acknowledge here have had so much to contribute to, made a whole bunch of really important recommendations.”
“But one of the things which is useful to be able to do really quickly is this upgraded community reporting tool.
“This is not the end of anything. This is the beginning of so much more we need to do.”
Minister for Equality Steve Dimopoulos at the launch of Victoria’s Community Reporting ToolPhoto by Dean Arcuri
Victorian Attorney General Sonya Kilkenny acknowledged that, while they have passed “nation-leading reforms” with the anti-vilification and anti-hate reforms, there is “so much” underreporting in our communities.
“It actually makes me so sad that we’re even here having to launch this kind of upgraded tool.
“I think that speaks volumes about where we find ourselves today in a dreadful, dreadful environment where people are unsafe, where people don’t feel they can actually report, where they feel that there is a need for a tool that enables them to report anonymously.”
“Today’s announcement about an upgraded tool is so important. It enables anonymous reporting, which is important for us so we understand what is being experienced. So we can better respond to it and respond in ways that will actually address it and keep you safe.”
‘We need to stop the violence before it happens’
The Victorian Commissioner for LGBTQIA+ Communities, Joe Ball, shared what the CRT means to him.
“For at least two decades the LGBTIQ+ community has advocated for a community reporting tool because of street-based bashings across our community, but particularly of gay men and of trans women,” Ball said.
“People have been talking about we need to actually have some way to say to government, to say to prevention organisations, to pave a way for how we’re going to stop this violence before it starts.”
“Because the reality is, if we don’t really understand it, where it’s happening, the prevalence, who is being targeted, and in what conditions it’s happening, we can’t really fuel this prevention campaign. At the point that we lock up people for the crimes, somebody’s already been bashed. At worst, someone has been killed.”
Victorian Commissioner for LGBTQIA+ Communities Joe Ball at the launch of Victoria’s Community Reporting ToolPhotography by Dean Arcuri
Commissioner Ball said that this is something the community has lived and endured, often alone, for many years.
The next challenge is building faith within the community to report.
“We need to build an evidence base, Ball said. “We need to stop the violence before it happens, and I think today is actually a very big day, and it needs to be honoured within the context of how long it’s been happening and who’s been fighting for it.”
The Labor Government continues to work alongside Victoria Police and their LGBTIQA+ Liaison Network to support reporting of incidents that reach a criminal threshold and encourage anyone impacted by violence to share their experience.
Reports made should relate to something that happened in Victoria, and anyone in the community can make a report through the CRT.
For the latest LGBTIQA+ Sister Girl and Brother Boy news, entertainment, and community stories in Australia, visit qnews.com.au. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
This is such an important initiative. A lot of people avoid reporting because going through police or a formal complaint feels too daunting, so having a lower-barrier option really matters. I found some useful community resources and support info while researching this topic, if anyone wants to look through tids site for more. Great to see Victoria leading on this.