2 hours agoMon 12 Jan 2026 at 12:56am

Chris Minns announces a crackdown on illegal prayer halls to combat hate speech. (ABC News)

In short:

Councils will have more power to shut down premises that host "hate preachers" under new legislation proposed by the NSW government.

Under the new laws, places of worship will be required to consult with NSW Police during the planning approval process.

Councils will have authority to cut off utilities for premises found hosting "hate preachers" and fines for non-compliance will dramatically increase.

Local councils will be given greater powers to shut down illegal prayer halls and dish out massive fines for non-compliance, under the NSW government's proposed hate speech reforms.

Premier Chris Minns announced the measures on Monday to crackdown on "factories of hate" operating at venues without the appropriate planning approvals. 

Under the new laws, premises that host prayer meetings will be required to consult NSW Police in the planning approval process.

In addition, councils will have authority to cut off utilities to venues found hosting "hate preachers", while penalties for individuals will increase from $11,000 to $110,000 and $22,000 to $220,000 for corporations. 

Mr Minns said he was "struck" when Bankstown Council moved to close down Al-Madina Dawah Centre, which was linked to a notorious Islamic preacher, and only a "nominal fine" was applied.

He said unlawful prayer halls were a "fly in the face" to churches, mosques and synagogues that went through stringent approval processes to operate.

He argued current laws were "too easily ignored by a person to determined to keep their place of worship open".

"The reason for that change is so as you don't have an entity or organisation constantly moving from one suburban place to another," he said.

"It will require more bureaucracy, more regulation and I accept this."

'Agnostic' reforms to apply to all places of worship

Mr Minns defended the reforms as "agnostic" and that they would apply to any religious institution or organisation that was operating illegally in the community.

"The simple question that will be applied by the council is: Are you operating legally or not? It is that straightforward,"

he said.

Police Minister Yasmin Catley said the government made "no apology whatsoever" for moving to eradicate hate speech.

"We've made it very clear that right across our community, wherever you are, we will not accept this type of hatred, this type of rhetoric that is spewing hate in our neighbourhood.

"We want to make sure we give our councils every bit of ammunition, all the tools they need … to ensure that they can stop this practice from going on in our community."