• expanding the groups that are protected under existing offences for publicly displaying prohibited symbols and giving the Nazi salute. The Bill is currently before the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee for inquiry and report by 12 December 2024. (f) Anti-doxxing measures On 29 November 2024, the Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Bill (the Bill) passed Parliament. The Bill amends the Criminal Code and introduces new criminal offences to outlaw doxxing, which is the malicious release of personal data online. The Bill imposes a maximum penalty of 6 years imprisonment for the malicious use of personal data and a penalty of 7 years imprisonment where a person or group is targeted because of an attribute such as their race, religion, nationality or national or ethnic origin. The Bill also amends the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and introduced a new statutory tort of serious invasions of privacy, intended to address gaps in the privacy protection framework. The tort complements the existing powers and protections in relation to doxxing and has a lower threshold than offences under criminal law. (g) Social Cohesion Grants The Government has announced $25 million in new national measures to support social cohesion across Australian communities affected by the conflict in the Middle East. 15 These measures include initiatives to combat racism, hate speech and the spread of misinformation, to enhance mental health and wellbeing support, as well as targeted grants programs to support communities and social inclusion. 2.3 Australian Human Rights Commission Initiatives (a) National Anti-Racism Strategy Through funding from the Australian Government, the Commission has been developing a National Anti-Racism Strategy to tackle racism and promote racial equality in Australia. The Strategy includes: • a National Anti-Racism Framework that recommends actions by government, civil society, businesses and the community to tackle racism and promote racial equality in Australia 22