Crimes Amendment (Places of Worship) Act 2025

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New South Wales

Crimes Amendment (Places of Worship) Act 2025 No 10

Contents

			Page
	1	Name of Act	2
	2	Commencement	2
Schedule 1		Amendment of Crimes Act 1900 No 43	3
Schedule 2		Amendment of Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002 No 103	4

New South Wales

Crimes Amendment (Places of Worship) Act 2025 No 10

Act No 10, 2025

An Act to amend the Crimes Act 1900 to provide for offences in relation to persons blocking, impeding, hindering or taking certain other actions in relation to persons accessing or leaving places of worship; and to amend the Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002 to authorise police officers to issue move on directions in relation to apparently genuine demonstrations, protests, processions or organised assemblies occurring in or near places of worship. [Assented to 2 March 2025]

The Legislature of New South Wales enacts—

1 Name of Act

This Act is the Crimes Amendment (Places of Worship) Act 2025.

2 Commencement

This Act commences on the earlier of the following—

(a) the day that is 3 months after the date of assent to this Act,

(b) a day to be appointed by proclamation.

Schedule 1Amendment of Crimes Act 1900 No 40

[1] Part 4AF, heading

Insert “or places of worship” after “facilities”.

[2] Sections 214B and 214C

Omit section 214B. Insert instead—

214B Places of worship

(1) A person in or near a place of worship must not—

(a) without reasonable excuse, intentionally block, impede or hinder a person accessing or leaving, or attempting to access or leave, the place of worship, or

(b) harass, intimidate or threaten a person accessing or leaving, or attempting to access or leave, the place of worship. Maximum penalty—200 penalty units or imprisonment for 2 years, or both.

(2) Subsection (1)(a) does not apply to a person if the person’s conduct—

(a) forms part of industrial action or an industrial dispute or campaign, or

(b) occurs at or outside Parliament House or an office of a member of Parliament, or

(c) is in accordance with the consent or other authority of—

(i) the Commissioner of Police, or

(ii) the person apparently in charge of the place of worship.

(3) Subsection (1)(a) is subject to the Summary Offences Act 1988, section 24.

(4) In this section—

place of worship—

(a) means a building or other structure ordinarily used for worship, and

(b) includes a church, mosque, synagogue and temple.

214C Review of certain provisions

(1) The Minister must review the operation of the amendments made by the Crimes Amendment (Places of Worship) Act 2025 to determine whether—

(a) the policy objectives of the amendments remain valid, and

(b) the terms of the amendments remain appropriate for achieving the objectives.

(2) The review must be undertaken as soon as practicable after the period of 2 years from the commencement of the amendments.

(3) A report about the outcome of the review must be tabled in each House of Parliament within 3 years after the commencement of the amendments.

Schedule 2Amendment of Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002 No 103

[1] Section 200 Limitation on exercise of police powers under this Part

Omit “or (4)” from section 200(2). Insert instead “, (4) or (5)”.

[2] Section 200(5)

Insert after section 200(4)—

(5) A police officer is not precluded from giving a direction in relation to a demonstration, protest, procession or assembly if—

(a) the demonstration, protest, procession or assembly—

(i) is not an authorised public assembly for the purposes of the Summary Offences Act 1988, Part 4 or is not being held substantially in accordance with an authorisation under that part, and

(ii) is occurring in or near a place of worship, within the meaning of the Crimes Act 1900, section 214B, and

(b) the demonstration, protest, procession or assembly—

(i) does not form part of industrial action or an industrial dispute or campaign, and

(ii) is not occurring at or outside Parliament House or an office of a member of Parliament, and

(iii) is not in accordance with the consent or other authority of—

(A) the Commissioner of Police, or

(B) the person apparently in charge of the place of worship.

[Second reading speech made in—

Legislative Assembly on 11 February 2025

Legislative Council on 20 February 2025]

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