Five states have introduced anti-protest laws in recent years, with activists who take part in blockades to protect native forests or stop fossil fuel projects potentially facing fines or prison terms, the Australia Institute said.
"Peaceful protest is an important part of any healthy democracy, but Australian governments have increasingly encroached on the right to protest," democracy and accountability program director Bill Browne said on Saturday.
"While peaceful protesters are threatened with tens of thousands of dollars of fines, corporate lobbyists can buy access to senior politicians for a few thousand dollars."
The federal government is being urged to introduce national protections for peaceful protests. (Mick Tsikas/AAP PHOTOS)
Mr Browne said criminalising public protests while continuing to allow corporate lobbyists representing industries such as resources and forestry to access key decision-makers sent a message that democratic participation was not valued.
The institute has urged the federal government to introduce national protections for peaceful protests.
Disrupt Burrup Hub activist Joana Partyka, who has been fined and convicted for taking part in protests, said something was seriously wrong when peaceful protesters were punished with fines costing 10 times the amount lobbyists paid to access politicians.
"I think we often forget that our right to protest here in Australia is essentially just implied," she said.
"That leaves it vulnerable to erosion, and makes an urgent case for why it must be enshrined in legislation - particularly because protest is often the very tool that brings light to the undemocratic collusion between industry and government that serves to undermine our rights, including the right to protest."
An Australia Institute poll of more than 1000 people published in November found Australians overwhelmingly supported peaceful protest, with 71 per cent of people surveyed backing federal legislation to protect the right to protest.
Polling shows Australians overwhelmingly support peaceful protest. (Michael Gorton/AAP PHOTOS)
Almost 80 per cent agreed protest played a vital role in the nation's democratic system and 81 per cent said cash-for-access lobbying should face similar or stricter restrictions as political donations.
"Federal legislation preserving the right to protest is popular among Australians - the same cannot be said for cash-for-access payments to lobby politicians over dinner," Mr Browne said.
Australian protesters have opposed apartheid and the Vietnam War, defended women's rights, protected Tasmania's Franklin River and fought for the rights of workers and LGBTQI people.
Disrupt Burrup Hub is a direct action campaign to stop gas producer Woodside Energy from expanding its industrial facilities in Western Australia.
The group has undertaken multiple disruptive protest actions in recent years, including spray painting yellow Woodside logos on the doors of state parliament and the protective perspex covering Fredrick McCubbin's Down on His Luck at the Art Gallery of WA.
