Intentionally waving a Nazi flag in New South Wales or displaying memorabilia bearing swastikas could now land a person in jail for up to a year, along with a fine of over $100,000.
The Crimes Amendment (prohibition on display of Nazi symbols) Bill 2022 swiftly and unanimously passed the NSW upper house on Thursday.
The legislation was drafted in April, after an inquiry recommended a ban on the public display of Nazi symbols in a bid to tackle rising antisemitism.
NSW becomes the second state in Australia to pass the landmark legislation after Victoria in June.
NSW Jewish Board of Deputies CEO Darren Bark described the passing of the law as a historic day for NSW.
“Nazi symbols are a gateway to violence and are used as a recruitment tool by extremists,” he said.
“Banning their display is a long-overdue and much needed law in our state. The perpetrators will finally be held to account.”
Bark said the legislation would be “a game-changer in tackling online hate” and called on tech companies to ramp up efforts to remove imagery and symbols associated with Nazism.
A section in the NSW bill allows for the swastika symbol to be used in academic, historical or educational settings, thereby paving the way for its display by Hindus, Buddhists and Jains for whom it holds religious significance.
“For too long, the Hindu community has not felt comfortable to display our symbol of peace because it resembled a symbol of evil,” Hindu Council of Australia national vice-president Surinder Jain said. “This is no longer.”
Labor’s Walt Secord, a member of the parliamentary committee examining the ban of Nazi symbols and an ardent advocate for the bill, said 31 incidents of displaying the Nazi flag were reported to the police in 2020.
Many members from the government and opposition in the upper house recounted personal stories of their families’ lived experiences enduring the Holocaust while others warned of the dangers of rising neo-Nazi trends.
Speaking in parliament on Thursday, Secord referred to a NSW man arrested by counter-terrorism police in September who was found to be in possession of a Nazi flag and a map of the state on his bedroom wall with plans to make a 3D-printed gun.
In 2020, the Australian Security Intelligence Agency said that far-right violent extremism, with its emphasis on neo-Nazi ideology, makes up around 40% of its counter-terrorism caseload.