A review sparked by calls to criminalise inflammatory Islamic sermons has found several unintended consequences could flow from expanding incitement laws.
The nine-month review, ordered by NSW Premier Chris Minns, recommends against broadening section 93Z of the Crimes Act or introducing other offences to curb public incitement of hatred.
The review was sparked amid tension over the conflict in Gaza and controversy over a series of inflammatory sermons from Islamic preachers targeting Jews and Israelis.
"Not only are there limits to the role of the criminal law in achieving social cohesion, expanding vilification offences could potentially have negative consequences," the review said on Friday.
Like NSW, most Australian state and territory laws policing the inciting of hatred require proof that the offender threatened or incited physical harm to people or property.
A lower bar required in Western Australia has resulted in 52 proven charges in the past two decades.
In contrast, all but one of the few prosecutions under 93Z have resulted in acquittals or charges being dropped.
Police inquiries into several Islamic sermons have also been dropped after findings that no NSW or federal laws had been breached.
Faith NSW, a coalition of Islamic, Hindu, Christian, Jewish and Buddhist communities, had earlier welcomed the review as the laws were "clearly not serving their purpose".
Two submissions to the review backed expanding 93Z.
The NSW Jewish Board of Deputies argued it should cover harassment or intimidation of a person based on race, religion or other protected attributes.
But the challenge of using the criminal law to protect against vilification, without unjustifiably infringing other fundamental rights, was frequently raised during the inquiry.
That included stifling free expression, open debate and freedom of religion.
The review agreed interactions between police and Indigenous people or people with disabilities could also be caught up in an expanded definition.
Analogies were drawn with the disproportionate impact of offensive language offences on Indigenous people.
"Expanded criminalisation comes with risks and is not always the best tool to achieve social policy aims," the review said.
But it recommended more be done to improve the visibility and track the effectiveness of the wider criminal justice response to hate crimes.
