The Australian Jurist (previously the Western Australian Jurist) is a journal dedicated to
exploring legal and political philosophy. The journal is calling for papers for its next edition
(Volume 15), which is a special edition concerning the following topic:
“Threats to Freedom of Speech and Expression”
In the past 5 years, Australia has been subject to a relentless attack on its freedom of expression,
communication and speech by its ‘power-that-be’. Since 2020, there have been several steps
taken by the Australian government, and other governments, that reveal a slow march toward the
censorship of information. For example, Australia has experienced:
- the censorship of information that went against the COVID-19 narrative,
- the adoption of the Online Safety Act 2021 (Cth),
- the attempted legislation of the Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation Bill (the
MAD Bill), - ‘hate speech laws’ legislated in 2024, at both Federal and State level, that removed the
key fault element of “intention” for “recklessness (substantially lowering the threshold to
be guilty of a crime), and - the most recent implementation of the ‘hate speech and group laws’ under the
Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism (Criminal and Migration Laws) Act 2026
(Cth).
It is getting harder to ignore the blatant attacks on our fundamental rights with regard to speech
and expression in Australia, as well as similar attacks around the world. These principles are the
cornerstones of functioning democratic nations. As U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brandeis
famously stated, the best way to combat hateful speech is via ‘more speech, not enforced
silence.’
Submissions must comply with the 4th edition of the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (‘AGLC
4′). Authors who do not have the AGLC 4 can download a PDF copy here.
We would be grateful if submissions are received by Friday, 1 May 2026 and note that
submissions should stay, roughly, within the range of 8-12 thousand words.
Articles can be submitted to the following email mailto:editor@alta.org.au or upload your
submission to our website here