Council red tape is stymieing the right to protest, a report has found, after a regional New South Wales council told a protest organiser she needed a $20m public liability insurance policy to hold a rally in a park.
The report, released on Wednesday and co-authored by the Australian Democracy Network (ADN) and Deakin University's Centre for Law as Protection, raised concerns about councils requiring protest organisers to obtain insurance for rallies on council land, and about the power some councils have to issue financial penalties for public gatherings held without a permit.
In July, Mariella Gussoni notified Bathurst regional council she was holding a protest in a local park against the culling of brumbies in Kosciuszko national park, part of nationwide rallies on a set day in August. She wrote that the protest would include speakers and music, and that she was unsure whether five or 50 people would attend. The council responded by letter, saying it would permit the protest on condition she take out a $20m public liability insurance policy and noting the council would not be liable for any loss or injury.
"It scared me that I would be liable," Gussoni said. "I had just let the council know as a courtesy."
Nervous about what the requirement could mean and how much it would cost, the 61-year-old held the protest next to the park, on a footpath, after notifying police. The rally, attended by an estimated 120 people, went ahead without any issues.
A spokesperson for Bathurst council said the council "engaged with the event organisers at the time" and would not provide further comment.
Report co-author and ADN protest rights campaigner Anastasia Radievska said requirements such as insurance could have a chilling effect on people speaking up about local issues. "Often, community groups might spring up in relation to a specific local issue," she said. "The more councils do this, the more other councils think that this is the way to interact with protest."
The report said that across most Australian jurisdictions, "protest is unlawful or unprotected" without permission from police, councils or place managers. It called for permit systems to be considered a process of notification rather than authorisation, and recommended there be no insurance requirements.
NSW carries a $2,200 fine for holding a public gathering on council land without a permit, a default requirement under the Local Government Act, though some councils have their own policies. The city of Sydney has passed motions affirming the right to protest on council land. The permit requirement operates alongside the police form 1 process, which gives protesters who notify police immunity from offences such as obstructing a road in a designated area.
Tim Roberts, president of the Council for Civil Liberties, called council demands for insurance or permits "unhelpful" and a "reactionary approach". "It's a blatant contravention of the right to protest," he said, referring to the implied right to freedom of political communication.