Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus says there is no place for Nazi symbols of hate in Australia. -AAP Image
Performing the Nazi salute in public or displaying Nazi symbols such as the swastika will be illegal under new laws that have come into effect.
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Under the laws, which apply from Monday, any display of the Nazi swastika or the SS symbol is banned, while the selling of items with Nazi symbols is prohibited.
The legislation also includes a federal ban on performing the Nazi salute in public, following similar bans of the gesture at a state level in Victoria and Tasmania.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the legislation had sent a strong statement to the community.
"This is the first legislation of its kind and will ensure no one in Australia will be allowed to glorify or profit from acts and symbols that celebrate the Nazis and their evil ideology," he said.
"The passage of the (legislation) through the federal parliament last month sent a clear message: there is no place in Australia for acts and symbols that glorify the horrors of the Holocaust and terrorist acts."
The passage of the legislation followed a rise in anti-Semitism and the use of the Nazi symbol by far-right groups.
Private collectors of Nazi materials or war souvenirs will not be caught up in the new provisions, but they will be banned from selling them.
Swastikas used as symbolism in other religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism will also not be impacted.
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