TRANSCRIPT
Lucky to be alive but facing the prospect of never being able to make a complete recovery after being attacked by a teenager with a machete.
"When I saw my arm bleeding, I'm like fuck. I'm bleeding out and then I just started yelling call triple-zero, call the ambulance, call triple-zero. So, I don't know how many people called but at least two people were on the phone with the ambulance with triple-zero then."
47-year-old Melbourne man Frank Bonnici faces weeks of rehabilitation after he was slashed in the arm with a machete.
He and his partner Mykey O'Halloron were attacked while out walking when they were approached by four teenagers who yelled homophobic slurs.
Mr Bonnici hasn't been able to work since and says a surgeon warned him he might not regain full use of his arm.
"All my work has completely stopped. I do social work, I teach yoga , I do modelling as well. All my work is physical. So, I've got absolutely zero income at the moment coming in. Yeah, I've got victims of crime (support) but I heard they can take months."
Australia is experiencing an increase in homophobic attacks, largely carried out by groups of teenage offenders who lure their victims via hookup apps like Grindr and Scruff.
The Chief Executive of Thorne Harbour Health in Melbourne, Simon Ruth, says the assaults have taken place in multiple jurisdictions.
"We're seeing it right across the country. So it's been Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth, Auckland and Canberra. But it now seems to be escalating as well. So we've had a base level of attacks occurring on apps, particularly Grindr and also Snapchat. But now it seems to be escalating to more violent attacks."
Jeremy Oliver works for the Victoria Police in a specialist unit for LGBTIQ+ Victorians.
He says there have been several dozen attacks in Victoria since June and more than 15 arrests of teenage offenders who have carried out assaults with knives, machetes and bats.
"Unfortunately, we've seen a lot of weapons produced at these incidents and the crimes that have been committed are usually an assault or an assault with a weapon. There's been home invasions where the offenders have been able to identify where someone lives. There's also extortion. So, at the scene the offenders will ask the victim to open up their bank account and transfer money to another account, and also armed robberies and theft. So, theft of possessions that the victim might have been carrying."
Mr Oliver says after conversations with community organisations and government agencies, the police believe there are a number of factors giving rise to this offending, including a global decline in social cohesion and a rise in anti-LGBTIQ+ hate and discrimination.
"We also know that there's a rising level of toxic masculinity within, particularly young men and again, that's around the world, not just located here in Victoria and there's this phenomenon which has been labelled 'post and boast' where people commit any type of crime and post it onto socials - whether it be TikTok or Snapchat - as a way of boasting about what they've done and trying to gain some type of influence or notoriety for standing within their particular networks or communities."
As Australia experiences this increase in homophobic attacks, Frank Bonnici says people need to be on alert.
"Be safe out there, watch your back because it can literally happen to anyone, especially gay people. Even if you're walking in pairs, if you see something that's not right, walk the other way straight away, get to safety straight away because this actually serious. I could be dead right now."
Simon Ruth, from Thorne Harbour Health, says there needs to be a nationally coordinated response to these crimes.
"We also need a national detection service, that we need to be tracking this. It does seem to be driven nationally. It seems to be driven online. State jurisdictional police forces have a role in detecting and arresting but somebody needs to be tracking the fact that this seems coordinated across the country. And also prevention, because this is happening online, also needs to be tackled nationally as well."
That view is shared by the Chief Executive of Equality Australia, Anna Brown.
"This is a form of, you could say, domestic terrorism. The radicalisation agenda and the way in which the government tackles other forms of extreme ideologies that lead to violence and attacks. This should be treated with the same level of seriousness and gravity and responded to as such. We have a parliamentary secretary for social cohesion now, Peter Khalil, so this is something he could look at. But what is needed is that step forward to say we are going to take action in this space. We are going to work with state and territory governments and police agencies and the Federal Police and other security agencies and make sure that there is actually an adequate, comprehensive response to this issue."
Anna Brown has welcomed the introduction of a federal hate crimes bill by the Albanese government.
And she says the latest assaults reinforce her view the legislation needs to include provisions against hate speech and serious vilification.
"It's never been more urgent that we have laws, civil protections but also criminal offences for more serious, really serious speech, as we do in some states and territories because we know that hate speech leads to an escalation in violence and threats against our communities. It's all part of the same picture and you need to have a multifaceted response."
While grateful he wasn't killed in the machete attack, Frank Bonnici says he wonders what's in store for the weeks and months ahead.
"I'm not sleeping properly at night. How long is that going to go on? The stupid dreams that I have, it's... I'm not sleeping at night and I'm in a lot of pain and I just have to keep taking painkillers every day."
Specialist support and counselling is available from QLife on 1800 184 527 and Lifeline on 13 11 14.
