It’s June, and the anti-choice group ‘Helpers of God’s Precious Infants’ continue to film people accessing the fertility control clinic in Albury.
Last year the Victorian Law Reform Commission (VLRC) recomended in a report of surviellance in public places, that the Victorian government make it an offense to undertake surviellance in order to intimidate.
Here is some of the relevant material from the VLRC’s Surviellance in Public Places – final report:
Page 124:
The commission is aware of a number of instances of surveillance devices being used to intimidate, demean or harass people.
Page 125:
Sometimes surveillance devices are used for the purpose of intimidation or to prevent people from doing something they are otherwise lawfully entitled to do. Some submissions to our Consultation Paper expressed concern about surveillance being used in this manner. Local examples include anti-abortion campaigners setting up surveillance outside abortion clinics and people being filmed entering gay bars or drug treatment clinics.
RECOMMENDATION
20. A new offence should be included in the SDA that makes it unlawful to use a surveillance device in such a way as to: intimidate, demean or harass a person of ordinary sensibilities; or to prevent or hinder a person of ordinary sensibilities from performing an act they are lawfully entitled to do.
The then Labor Attorney General:
thanked the VLRC for its work and said the Government would consider the report’s recommendations – Media release
What consideration the then Victorian government actually gave the report is unclear, I have been unable to find a more recent or detailed announcement on the Victorian government’s media release website.
- Kieran.