A regional New South Wales council required a protest organiser to obtain a $20 million public liability insurance policy to hold a rally in a park, according to a report released Wednesday by the Australian Democracy Network (ADN) and Deakin University's Centre for Law as Protection.
The report identifies council red tape as a barrier to the right to protest in Australia. It documents instances where councils have required protest organisers to purchase insurance when rallies occur on council-controlled land. The researchers also flagged the power held by some regional and urban councils to issue financial penalties if public gatherings proceed without a council permit.
The $20 million insurance requirement exemplifies the cost barriers that can effectively prevent grassroots organising. The report does not specify which council issued this requirement or the circumstances of the protest, but the figure represents a substantial financial gate that would be inaccessible to most community groups and volunteer-led movements.
ADN and Deakin University researchers framed these bureaucratic requirements as impediments to democratic participation. The practice of requiring insurance shifts the financial risk from councils onto organisers, potentially chilling assembly rights particularly for groups with limited resources. Financial penalty powers add another layer of enforcement that councils can deploy against unpermitted gatherings.
The report reflects growing scrutiny of how local government approval processes affect free speech and assembly rights. Australian Democracy Network and Deakin University did not provide additional detail in the source material about the scale of the problem, how many councils impose such requirements, or what legal grounds councils cite for them.