A new Speak-Out Hotline has been launched to protect people from race and religion-based harassment, intimidation and abuse, minister for police and emergency services Stuart Ayres and minister for citizenship and communities Victor Dominello announced recently.
Mr Ayres said the new hotline, which will be operated by the NSW Police Call Centre (PoliceLink) in conjunction with Multicultural NSW, would make it easier for people in NSW to report incidents of race or religion-based abuse.
“The new direct phone line will enable everyone in the community to speak out about physical or verbal incidents of race or religion-based abuse and to seek assistance from the appropriate authorities,” Mr Ayres said.
“This is about ensuring accurate records on the prevalence of alleged racial abuse are maintained. Having the service within PoliceLink will ensure criminal matters are attended to appropriately and non-criminal matters are referred to Multicultural NSW to be logged.
“The NSW Government will not stand by while fellow citizens are being targeted for insult because of their beliefs, their skin colour or their choice of dress.
“I encourage people to call the Speak-Out line, even if they are only witnesses to an incident. We will ensure their concern is directed to the right arm of government, be it police or Multicultural NSW.”
Mr Dominello said NSW Police and Multicultural NSW had worked closely to develop the hotline to ensure a simple process for reporting and documenting any race and religion-based attacks.
“The hotline will help to provide better data about the prevalence of public racial abuse and will inform the way government agencies target resources to combatting racism and crime.
Published in The Indian Sun, Sydney
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