ECAJ submission banning the public display of Nazi symbols and gesture

ECAJ submission banning the public display of Nazi symbols and gesture

The public display of Nazi symbols in support of Nazi ideology was for decades after World War II a rarity in Australia. Yet in recent years there has been a sustained pro­lif­er­a­tion of Nazi symbols and gestures in the public sphere including, but not limited to, displays online. The negative impacts have included threats and menace conveyed to com­munit­ies who are targeted by Nazi hate-ideology, and an under­min­ing of their sense of security, and of social cohesion. Legis­la­tion to ban the public display of Nazi symbols and gestures has been enacted in NSW and Victoria, and Bills are currently under con­sid­er­a­tion in Queens­land and Tasmania, in addition to the current Federal Bill. They take different forms and treat par­tic­u­lar issues dif­fer­ently. Australia has struggled to come up with a best practice model law. In this sub­mis­sion we consider how to define “Nazi symbol”, “public act”, “Nazi gesture” and the mental element of the offence, as well as specific issues such as the con­sti­tu­tion­al head of power, the display of Nazi symbols via body tattoos, the advert­ising and sale of Nazi mem­or­ab­il­ia, defences, police powers and penalties. We also address the need for any legis­la­tion to be com­ple­men­ted by appro­pri­ate measures in school education.

The sub­mis­sion can be read here.

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