‘It was just pure hatred’: a new report reveals intensifying attacks against LGBTQIA+ people
- Written by: Weekend Times
Violence against same-sex attracted men through dating apps has become a key focus in the national debate over how to address hate crime.
Between January 2024 and
October 2025, Victoria Police recorded 95 app-facilitated offences targeting members of the LGBTQIA+ community. These offences included physical and verbal assault, robbery and extortion, and the filming and sharing of these offences through digital platforms.
The attacks are continuing. Last month in Melbourne, police arrested five men accused of homophobic attacks.
The extent of this violence prompted the Victorian Legislative Council to establish an inquiry into anti‑LGBTQIA+ hate crimes in Victoria. The committee just tabled its final report to parliament.
The inquiry found while this kind of hate is sadly not new, it’s intensifying, and requires a concerted effort to keep LGBTQIA+ people safe.
Escalating, but under-reported
The attacks have been primarily perpetrated by young men in peri-urban areas, including outer northern and southeastern Melbourne.
The motivation behind them is not always clear, and can include homophobia, thrillseeking and financial gain.
Under-reporting is likely, given the stigma still attached to the previous criminalisation of male same-sex desire in Western liberal democracies such as Australia.
That stigma may be most acutely felt by migrants from places where consensual male same-sex intimacy remains unlawful – more than 60 countries.
‘They did not care about getting caught’
David Brown, a victim–survivor of a dating app‑facilitated attack, shared his experience in a hearing at the inquiry:
They did not care about getting caught, because they did not see that they were doing anything wrong. They turned up to a park with a knife bigger than any of you have in your kitchen and held it to me and did not see any problem with that. It was just pure hatred. Now, they did try and rob me, but it was clear that was not their motivation […] while I was in the waiting room for emergency, I saw their profile reappear [on the dating app] […] They were ready to do it again.
In its report, the committee emphasised that the recent spate of homophobic attacks in Victoria is a resurgence of long present anti-LGBTQIA+ hate, but this time it’s being facilitated online.
The attacks will be all too familiar to anyone who can remember the last decades of the 20th century, when gangs of young men would pursue same-sex attracted men violently, and in some cases, fatally.
The impacts of the violence are felt beyond the victim of the attack by instilling fear across LGBTQIA+ communities, and beyond.
An inquiry of national significance
While the inquiry’s focus is Victoria, the 41 findings and 35 recommendations will resonate nationally, and internationally.
In addition to Victoria, violence facilitated through dating apps against same-sex attracted men has been reported in New South Wales, Western Australia, the Australian Capital Territory and Queensland.
Given the international reach of digital platforms, this is now a global issue. There have been cases reported in the United States as far back as 2017.
Potentially drawing on the experience of NSW, the committee has recommended the Victorian government consider establishing a Board of Inquiry into historical violence, discrimination and stigma against LGBTQIA+ communities in Victoria.
The committee recommended considering a redress pathway and reform to the historical homosexual convictions scheme, as Tasmania has done.
The findings and recommendations will also be of interest to anyone more likely to be targeted for violence through dating apps and other digital platforms, including women and minority communities.
Read more: Dating apps are facilitating LGBTQ+ hate crimes. How can users stay safe?
What needs to be done
As the committee has noted in its report, a concerted effort is needed from all levels of government, tech companies and civil society.
Key areas of focus are:
resourcing to increase awareness about anti-LGBTQIA+ hate crime
research into its prevalence and impacts
prevention initiatives.
This includes continued support for LGBTQIA+ trauma-informed victim services and outreach to communities beyond LGBTQIA+ organisations.
The committee recommended the Victorian government consider the feasibility of introducing aggravated hate-based offences into criminal law in Victoria.
The committee also recommended an independent evaluation of Victoria police LGBTQIA+ training, and the development of practical tools to identify and record anti-LGBTQIA+ crimes.
Stricter governance of the digital platforms involved and hate crime diversion and deradicalisation programs with a particular focus on young men are also among the recommendations.
Key to raising awareness of the impact of homophobia is an agreed definition of hate crime across Australian jurisdictions. This, in turn, would provide police across Australia with clarity on how to identify anti-LGBTQIA+ hate crime, and more quickly identify it online.
The federal government’s proposed digital duty of care would be a further attempt in making tech companies legally responsible for preventing online harms. For dating app companies, this could mean an increased emphasis on evidence preservation, in addition to improved safety, user education and other features on their platforms.
The committee has recommended the federal government ensure all dating apps operating in Australia become signatories to an enforceable and strengthened Australian Online Dating Code. The current code is voluntary, and does not encompass digital platforms such as Snapchat.
At a time of intensified hostility towards LGBTQIA+ expression, the inquiry has given much needed voice to victims, documented harms, and laid out potential responses to address technology-facilitated violence against LGBTQIA+ people, their communities and beyond.
The National Sexual Assault, Family and Domestic Violence Counselling Line – 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for any Australian who has experienced, or is at risk of, family and domestic violence and/or sexual assault.
Justin Ellis is an appointee to the New South Wales Police Force Task Force Atlas community consultative committee. He, with Professor Nicole Asquith, made a joint submission to the Parliament of Victoria Legislative Council Legal and Social Issues Committee inquiry into hate crimes in Victoria.
