Talking about your faith should never be a crime. Praying on a street corner should never be a crime. A preacher speaking to whoever wants to listen should never be a crime. In Victoria, ordinary religious speech is now at risk of being treated as hate.

Victoria’s strengthened anti-vilification laws — the Justice Legislation Amendment (Anti-vilification and Social Cohesion) Act 2025 — brought in new criminal offences from September 2025 and new civil protections from April 2026. Nobody defends real threats or genuine incitement. But these laws rest on a broad “harm-based” test, and that test can catch honest, everyday faith. A street evangelist. A person praying aloud. A preacher reading from Scripture in a public square. Any of them could be reported, dragged into a complaint, or told by a council to move on.

This is not about protecting anyone who threatens or menaces another person. That is already wrong, and other laws already cover it. This is about a rule so broad it turns ordinary religious speech into a legal risk.

Think about what this means for a normal Victorian. Someone who simply wants to share what they believe, peacefully, in a public place. Now they must weigh up whether a quiet prayer or an open Bible might land them in front of a tribunal. That is pressure no one should carry for speaking their faith in public.

Free speech includes religious speech. Take that away, and it is no longer free.

The demand is simple. No council or state rule treats ordinary religious speech as vilification.

I will fight to protect the freedom of every Victorian to pray, preach and share their faith in public without fear of the law.

• No Victorian council rule treats open-air preaching, street evangelism or prayer as hate speech.
• No state rule treats ordinary religious expression as vilification.
• Genuine threats and incitement stay illegal under the laws that already cover them.
• Peaceful religious speech in public places is protected, not policed.
• No one is dragged before a tribunal for sharing their faith respectfully.

These are not radical ideas. They are the basics of a free country: people can hold their beliefs, speak them plainly, and share them in public.

A prayer is not hate. A sermon is not a crime. Sharing your faith in the open is a freedom worth keeping.

Sign the petition. Protect prayer and preaching in public.

Add your name  to keep ordinary religious speech free from council and state vilification rules. Then share it with a friend, a neighbour or anyone who believes free speech includes the freedom to speak your faith.