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........

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