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This is a Bill, not an Act. For current law, see the Acts databases.
Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Symbol
Prohibition) Act 2022
No. of 2022
TABLE OF PROVISIONS
Clause Page
1 Purpose 1
2 Commencement 1
3 New Division 4C of Part I inserted 2
4 Repeal of this Act 7
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Endnotes 8
1 General information 8
i
Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi
Symbol Prohibition) Act 2022
No. of 2022
[Assented to ]
The Parliament of Victoria enacts:
1 Purpose
The main purpose of this Act is to amend the
Summary Offences Act 1966 to make the public
display of Nazi symbols an offence.
2 Commencement
(1) Subject to subsection (2), this Act comes into
operation on a day or days to be proclaimed.
(2) If a provision of this Act does not come into
operation within 6 months from the day on which
it receives the Royal Assent, it comes into
operation on the day after the end of that period.
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Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Symbol Prohibition) Act 2022
No. of 2022
3 New Division 4C of Part I inserted
After Division 4B of Part I of the Summary
Offences Act 1966 insert--
"Division 4C--Public display of Nazi
symbols
41I Statement for this Division
In enacting this Division, the Parliament
recognises the continued importance of the
swastika as an ancient and auspicious
symbol of purity, love, peace and good
fortune in Buddhist, Hindu, Jain and other
religions. The swastika has had immense
significance to these faiths for millennia,
long before it was misappropriated by the
Nazi party and Third Reich in Germany. The
misuse of the swastika is an affront and
cause of deep regret to people of the
Buddhist, Hindu and Jain religions. The
swastika continues to be embraced by
members of these religions and can be found
in places of worship, architecture and
religious books, as well as in commercial
and personal settings such as people's homes.
The distorted version of the symbol is also
known as the Hakenkreuz (meaning twisted
or hooked cross in German). The
Hakenkreuz became a symbol of the Third
Reich, under which heinous crimes were
perpetrated against humanity, particularly the
Jewish people. The Hakenkreuz is a symbol
of antisemitism and hatred and of an
ideology fundamentally incompatible with
Victoria's multicultural, multiethnic and
democratic society.
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Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Symbol Prohibition) Act 2022
No. of 2022
41J Definitions
In this Division--
child means a person under the age of
18 years;
intelligence agency means--
(a) the Australian Security
Intelligence Organisation; or
(b) the Australian Secret Intelligence
Service; or
(c) the Australian Signals Directorate;
or
(d) the Office of National
Intelligence;
law enforcement officer has the same
meaning as in section 40;
like process has the same meaning as in
section 42(1AA);
Nazi symbol means--
(a) a Hakenkreuz, being a symbol of a
cross with the arms bent at right
angles in a clockwise direction; or
(b) a symbol that so nearly resembles
the symbol referred to in
paragraph (a) that it is likely to be
confused with or mistaken for that
symbol;
Example
A cross with the arms bent at right angles
in a counter clockwise direction.
non-Government school has the same
meaning as in section 1.1.3(1) of the
Education and Training Reform
Act 2006;
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Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Symbol Prohibition) Act 2022
No. of 2022
post-secondary education institution has the
same meaning as in section 1.1.3(1) of
the Education and Training Reform
Act 2006.
41K Public display of Nazi symbols
(1) A person must not intentionally display a
Nazi symbol if--
(a) the person knows, or ought reasonably
to know, that the symbol is associated
with Nazi ideology; and
(b) the display--
(i) occurs in a public place, a
non-Government school or a
post-secondary education
institution; or
(ii) occurs in sight of a person who
is in a public place, a
non-Government school or a
post-secondary education
institution.
Penalty: 120 penalty units or imprisonment
for 12 months or both.
(2) A person does not contravene subsection (1)
if the person establishes that the display was
engaged in reasonably and in good faith--
(a) for a genuine academic, artistic,
religious or scientific purpose; or
Examples
1 A person of Hindu faith displays a
swastika in the front window of the
person's shop as a symbol of good luck.
2 A person of Jain faith draws a swastika on
the person's new vehicle before using it as
a symbol of good fortune.
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Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Symbol Prohibition) Act 2022
No. of 2022
3 A person of Buddhist faith displays a
sculpture of Buddha with a swastika on
the chest, as a symbol of auspiciousness,
at a Buddhist temple.
(b) for a genuine cultural or educational
purpose; or
Examples
1 The floor of a shop is patterned with
swastikas in the hope of bringing
prosperity.
2 A member of the Hindu community wears
a T-shirt in public with a swastika on the
front as a symbol of peace.
3 A bookshop displays for sale an
educational textbook on World War II,
which has a Hakenkreuz on the cover.
(c) in making or publishing a fair and
accurate report of any event or matter
of public interest; or
(d) in opposition to fascism, Nazism,
neo-Nazism or other related ideologies.
Examples
1 A person who displays a flag of Nazi
Germany with a marking through it to
signal the person's opposition to Nazism.
2 A person participating in a protest who
displays a Nazi symbol on a placard which
also contains words stating opposition to
fascism.
(3) A person does not contravene subsection (1)
if the Nazi symbol is displayed on the
person's body by means of tattooing or other
like process.
(4) A law enforcement officer or a member of an
intelligence agency does not contravene
subsection (1) if the display occurs in the
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Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Symbol Prohibition) Act 2022
No. of 2022
performance of the officer's or member's
duties and is done in good faith.
(5) A person does not contravene subsection (1)
if the display occurs in the course of official
duties connected with the administration of
the justice system, including the
investigation or prosecution of offences, and
is done in good faith.
(6) A prosecution of a child for an offence
against subsection (1) must not be
commenced without the written consent of
the Director of Public Prosecutions.
41L Direction to remove Nazi symbol from
public display
(1) A police officer may give a direction to a
person to remove from display a Nazi
symbol if the police officer reasonably
believes the person is committing an offence
against section 41K by displaying the Nazi
symbol.
(2) A police officer may give a direction to a
person to remove from display a Nazi
symbol if--
(a) the person is the owner or occupier of a
property on which the Nazi symbol is
being displayed; and
(b) the police officer reasonably believes
an offence is being committed against
section 41K by the display of that Nazi
symbol.
(3) A direction under subsection (1) or (2)--
(a) may be given orally or in writing; and
(b) must include the period within which it
is to be complied with.
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Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Symbol Prohibition) Act 2022
No. of 2022
(4) If a direction cannot be given in person, a
police officer may leave the written direction
under subsection (1) or (2)--
(a) at the property on which the Nazi
symbol is being displayed; or
(b) if the display is in or on a vehicle, by
affixing or placing the direction on that
vehicle in a conspicuous manner.
(5) A person must not, without reasonable
excuse, contravene a direction given to the
person under subsection (1) or (2).
Penalty: 10 penalty units.
41M Issue of search warrant by magistrate
Section 465 of the Crimes Act 1958 applies
to and in respect of an offence against
section 41K of this Act as if it were an
indictable offence.".
4 Repeal of this Act
This Act is repealed on the first anniversary of
the day on which it receives the Royal Assent.
Note
The repeal of this Act does not affect the continuing operation of
the amendments made by it (see section 15(1) of the
Interpretation of Legislation Act 1984).
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Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Symbol Prohibition) Act 2022
No. of 2022
Endnotes
Endnotes
1 General information
See www.legislation.vic.gov.au for Victorian Bills, Acts and current
authorised versions of legislation and up-to-date legislative information.
Minister's second reading speech--
Legislative Assembly:
Legislative Council:
The long title for the Bill for this Act was "A Bill for an Act to amend the
Summary Offences Act 1966 to make the public display of Nazi
symbols an offence and for other purposes."
By Authority. Government Printer for the State of Victoria.
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