The Minns government will ignore the key recommendation of its own inquiry into hate speech laws, which found a person’s sexuality, religion or gender identity should enjoy the same legal protection as race.

On Tuesday, Attorney-General Michael Daley released the findings of the review by Justice John Sackar, KC, into NSW hate speech protections at the same time as Daley dismissed its findings.

The 157-page report, which the government refused to release for several months, found Labor’s rushed changes to hate speech laws following a string of anti-semitic incidents last year had created the perception of a “hierarchical, two-tier model of protection” which was “detrimental to social cohesion”.

The government passed laws that made racial vilification an offence in February last year, arguing it needed to act urgently to combat antisemitism. The changes were criticised by legal bodies, which warned they were vague and too complex, while many other groups argued the laws should provide equal protection for vulnerable communities vilified because of attributes such as religion, sexuality, and disability.

In his review, Sackar, who previously led the NSW Special Commission of Inquiry into LGBTIQ hate crimes, agreed, finding it was “difficult to dispute the principle that vulnerable groups should receive equal treatment under the criminal law”.

“I consider there should be uniformity between [hate speech laws] in terms of the groups they protect,” Sackar wrote.

“Submissions and consultation meetings made it clear that some community groups feel excluded because section 93ZAA applies only to race and not to other protected attributes covered by section 93Z — such as religion, sexual orientation and gender identity.

“In my view, this is detrimental to social cohesion – both offences ought to protect the same groups to prevent any perception of a ‘hierarchical, two-tier model of protection’.”

But the government has dismissed the recommendations. In a statement released at the same time as the report, Daley said the government “has decided not to expand the existing criminal offence of inciting racial hatred to apply to additional protected attributes”.

“There is no place for hatred in NSW. Everyone deserves to feel safe, respected and free from intimidation, regardless of their background, faith, sexuality or identity,” he said.

But the government’s view was that “expanding the racial hatred offence to cover other attributes raises complex questions about freedom of expression, freedom of religion, and the consistent application of the criminal law across the community”.

“The government recognises that there can be competing claims about freedom of expression, religion and identity. Criminal laws need to be clear, workable and capable of being applied consistently, regardless of who is involved.

Sackar was commissioned to review hate speech laws and whether they should be widened to protect people against other forms of vilification in May last year.

He handed his report to Daley on November 5. Labor refused to release the report for months, and ignored orders from the upper house to release it, which led to a senior member of its frontbench being censured and ejected from parliament.

But on Tuesday, with public attention captured by the Independent Commission Against Corruption’s Operation Rosny inquiry, the government released the report along with Daley’s statement.