VICTORIA — A Victorian inquiry into hate crimes has heard that international students from countries where homosexuality is illegal are being targeted through gay dating applications, lured into meetings, assaulted, and extorted with threats of being outed. Since June 2024, police in Victoria have identified 95 attacks targeting gay and bisexual men, resulting in 42 arrests.

Victoria police confirmed that anti-LGBTQ+ influencers have been promoting methods of attack online. Jenna Tuke, chief executive of Switchboard Victoria, told the hearing: "We've certainly seen a pattern of overseas students being targeted in countries where … homosexuality is illegal." She stated: "We've heard a lot of stories of people who've been … contacted after the offence and asked to deposit tens of thousands of dollars in an account – 'otherwise, this video will be shared with everyone in your contacts.'" Tuke added: "[The] family implications for those people are absolutely massive." She also said: "It does appear that they may be targeting people who they think are not 'out', and for whom the kind of consequences of being outed as gay or queer will be greater." Tuke noted that app-based violence frequently occurs in Melbourne's outer northern and south-eastern suburbs, with a cluster of cases also reported in Fitzroy.

Chad Hughes, chief executive of Thorne Harbour Health, told the inquiry that he believed the actual number of attacks was higher due to victims' mistrust of police. Hughes said that at a recent community forum, 12 men disclosed being attacked after arranging dating app meetings, but only two reported the incidents to police. He stated that one of the two men regretted making a report. Hughes said: "The attacks are deliberate and humiliating. The victims are forced to recite slurs on camera and footage is shared online to give the perpetrators status with their target audiences: others in the manosphere." He added: "Some offenders are as young as 13. These victims were not chosen at random. They were specifically targeted because they were perceived to be gay or bisexual. These are hate crimes."

David Brown, a victim, testified that he agreed to meet a person from a dating app in August 2024. He said two teenagers set upon him when he arrived, even though the meeting was arranged for broad daylight. Brown stated, "This isn't something that happened to me in a place that's dark and secluded. They turned up to a park with a knife bigger than any of you have in your kitchen and held it to me … it was just pure hatred." Brown added that he did not see justice in his case, as one teen was found guilty without a conviction, and the other was not charged.

Heather Corkhill, legal director at Equality Australia, told the inquiry that similar attacks have been reported in the United Kingdom, Canada, and the U.S. She also mentioned speaking with someone in Lebanon who described the same type of attack occurring there. Corkhill noted that dating apps have given offenders an unprecedented ease in identifying and reaching potential victims. Data from New South Wales indicated 197 incidents of LGBTQA+ hate-related violence between January 2023 and October 2025, with approximately 64% committed by young people.