Pro-democracy groups say controversial laws granting police powers to move protesters on from places of worship have emboldened the force to "act with impunity".
Days after the violent arrest of one-time federal Greens candidate Hannah Thomas, advocates have written an open letter to NSW Premier Chris Minns with concerns about a "criminalisation and police powers creep".
Ms Thomas, who was among five people arrested in Sydney on Friday outside an Australian firm reportedly linked to the manufacture of components for Israeli Defence Force fighter jets, was hospitalised and could suffer permanent vision loss.
The arrests will be investigated by police officers from another command, with internal review by professional standards and external oversight from police watchdog the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission.
Australian Democracy Network protest rights campaigner Anastasia Radievska said the incident showed the 'places of worship' laws had given police extra impetus to violently shut down protests.
The laws were introduced by the state Labor government after a spate of anti-Semitic attacks across the country, with the stated intention of protecting people being targeted by disruptive protesters when entering or leaving a place of worship.
"The passage of the places of worship anti-protest legislation has emboldened the NSW Police to act with impunity in shutting down protests when they're merely occurring near a place of worship," Ms Radievska said.
"The place of worship move-on powers are not fit for purpose, and they must be immediately repealed before more protesters are subject to reckless police action … participating in protest cannot be an invitation to assault and serious injury from police."
Friday's protest in Belmore was opposite a mosque but it was not the target of demonstrators.
Police have denied the laws were relied upon in the arrest.
Doctor Mitch Hickson said Ms Thomas' injuries were "medically significant" and "ethically indefensible".
"Facial trauma of the kind she has experienced - requiring surgery and with the potential for permanent vision loss - should never be the outcome of lawful protest activity and reveals a disproportionate and excessive use of force by the police," he said.
""A democracy cannot function where lawful protest is met with force, where questions are answered with violence, and where power is exercised without accountability."
The open letter calls for an independent investigation into the policing of the Belmore protest and urgent amendments to the places of worship protest laws.
Signatories include Amnesty International Australia, Australian Lawyers for Human Rights and the Jewish Council of Australia.
