Global Conference on Promoting Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue and Tolerance in Countering Hate Speech
Statement by H.E Mr. James Larsen, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Australia to the United Nations
17 September 2026
Australia thanks Morocco, the UN Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect, and the UN Alliance of Civilizations for convening this conference.
Everyone should live safely, proud of who they are, whatever their faith, ethnicity or culture. Dialogue across faiths and cultures builds trust, strengthens social cohesion, counters hate speech and helps prevent violence.
This is urgent.
Hate speech, Islamophobia and antisemitism are rising globally, as conflicts and geopolitical tensions deepen mistrust within and between communities.
Australia has three messages.
First, Australia unequivocally condemns hatred and discrimination, at home and abroad.
Second, we are acting to confront hate, consistent with international human rights law.
We are progressing recommendations from Australia’s Special Envoys to combat Islamophobia and Antisemitism.
We have strengthened hate-crime laws, legislated powers to refuse visas to individuals spreading hate, and launched our National Hate Crimes Database.
Digital technologies can enable the creation, amplification and spread of hate rapidly and at scale; we are developing a Digital Duty of Care to strengthen online safety protections for Australians.
Australia’s strength lies in our ability to engage across faiths and cultures, and when we must disagree, to do so peacefully and respectfully.
Third, combatting hatred requires sustained national effort and global commitment.
A whole-of-society approach across governments, communities, faith groups, educators and digital platforms is essential to prevention.
For this reason, Australia provides multiyear funding to the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect and has committed further funding to the UN Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect to support global prevention efforts.
I thank you.