Neo-Nazi group White Australia banned

The Australian Government has listed White Australia, the neo-Nazi group formerly known as the National Socialist Network, as a prohibited hate group under the Criminal Code.

This makes it a criminal offence to support, fund, train, recruit for, join or direct the organisation.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the listing was the second made under the prohibited hate group framework introduced on 20 January 2026 as part of the government’s Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism laws.

The framework was created after the Bondi Beach terror attack and allows the federal government to ban groups found to be engaging in, promoting or advocating hate crimes based on race, nationality or ethnic origin. The offence carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.

Burke said the listing followed a formal process initiated by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), with the threshold for further investigation met in late April.

“Today, the organisation that would be colloquially known as the neo-Nazis, but it’s gone through different names, the European Australian Movement, the National Socialist Network, and White Australia, has been listed as the second prohibited hate group under the changes that were made to the Criminal Code,” Burke said.

He said supporting, funding, training, recruiting for, joining or directing the group would become a criminal offence.

“None of this will stop bigoted people from having horrific ideologies, but it does prevent this group from organising, from meeting and prevents some of the sorts of horrific bigoted rallies that we have seen around our country,” Burke said.

“It sends a clear message to people who believe in racial supremacy that their views have no place in Australia.”

In a statement, Burke said the group had tried to hide behind public anonymity and changing names.

“Members of White Australia try to hide their identities in public, but nothing will shield these individuals from consequence if they continue their campaign against modern Australia,” he said.

“This listing sends the message that there is no place for racial supremacy in Australia. We are a country that judges people because of who they are, not where they come from.”

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Peter Wertheim welcomed the listing, saying the ECAJ had been calling for such a measure since 2021.

“We told a parliamentary committee at the time that groups like NSN were operating at a level just below the threshold required to list them as a terrorist organisation, but were using social media in the same way as terrorist groups to groom and recruit impressionable young men to join them.” Wertheim said.

“It doesn’t matter what they call themselves or how they structure themselves; these groups use all the well known techniques of thuggery and menace that Nazis have always used against Jewish communities and other groups they have targeted.

“This announcement is welcome and will send a much-needed message that these groups and their hateful, racist ideology have no place in Australia.”

The National Socialist Network announced in January that it would disband in response to the proposed federal hate laws. In a Telegram statement, the group said the closure would also apply to its “co-projects” White Australia, the European Australian Movement and the White Australia Party. The statement said the move was intended to avoid members being arrested and charged if the laws passed.

At the time, Burke said the announcement showed the legislation was already affecting extremist groups, but warned the ideology would not simply vanish.

“Any day the Nazis take a step backwards is a good day,” he told ABC Radio in January. “None of this means that the hate in these individuals goes away, but it is making it more and more difficult for them to organise.”

The group had come under national scrutiny after an estimated 60 men linked to the NSN gathered outside NSW Parliament in November in a protest organised under the White Australia name. The NSN had also signalled an intent to form a political party.

Extremism researchers and community groups had repeatedly warned that the NSN was Australia’s most prominent white supremacist organisation. An ABC investigation in 2025 found Australian neo-Nazis had taken inspiration from overseas extremist groups, including banned organisations, and that the NSN had sought to present itself as a political movement focused on race, identity and immigration.

The government’s hate and extremism laws also increase penalties for existing Commonwealth hate crime offences, create aggravated offences for religious officials or spiritual leaders who advocate or threaten violence, and expand the reasons a visa can be cancelled or refused over hate-motivated conduct.

The laws strengthen protections for people targeted because of race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, intersex status, disability, nationality, national or ethnic origin, or political opinion.

The listing follows the earlier prohibition of Hizb ut-Tahrir under the same framework.