0800 COURTS closes at 3:00pm 24 December 2025, for urgent matters (relating to family matter or bail conditions), please call 0800 253 425. 0800 4 FINES closes at 7:00pm, 24 December 2025. Our Contact Centres will reopen at 8:00am on Monday 5 January 2026. National Office (Aitken Street, Wellington) reception will be closed from 3:00pm on Friday 19 December, reopening at 8:00am on Monday 5 January 2026. For more information, see Court and Tribunal hours
Social cohesion in Aotearoa New Zealand is about being a place where everyone feels they belong.
An important part of achieving social cohesion is to stand against conduct and language that harms people. We are stronger because of our diversity. Experiences of hatred can make people feel unsafe and unwelcome in the places they should feel at home.
We want to hear what you think of six Government proposals to make Aotearoa New Zealand safer for everyone, by strengthening the parts of existing law that protect groups from speech that incites hatred, and by improving protections against discrimination. The incitement of hatred against a group based on a shared characteristic, such as ethnicity, religion or sexuality, is an attack on our values of inclusiveness and diversity. Such incitement is intolerable and has no place in our society.
The Government wants to know if the public think the current laws should change and whether other issues should be included in them.
Find out more about the proposals here:
Proposals against incitement of hatred and discrimination in Aotearoa New Zealand
Submissions close Friday 6 August 2021