Neo-Nazi group National Socialist Network criminalised under hate laws passed after Bondi terror attack

The home affairs minister said members of the neo-Nazi group were still operating despite the National Socialist Network claiming it would disband before the hate group legislation was introduced.

Photograph: Charlie Kinross/The Guardian View image in fullscreen The home affairs minister said members of the neo-Nazi group were still operating despite the National Socialist Network claiming it would disband before the hate group legislation was introduced.

Photograph: Charlie Kinross/The Guardian Neo-Nazi group National Socialist Network criminalised under hate laws passed after Bondi terror attack Home affairs minister Tony Burke says listing will stop group from organising and meeting, and may prevent more ‘horrific bigoted rallies’ Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The government has banned neo-Nazi group the National Socialist Network, also known as White Australia, listing it as a prohibited hate group under legislation passed in the wake of the Bondi terror attacks.

The listing will mean that activities including supporting, funding, training, recruiting and joining the group will constitute a criminal offence with a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.

The home affairs minister, Tony Burke , said the listing would come into effect at midnight on Friday and warned that anyone attending a rally associated with these groups or connected to individuals associated would be “taking a risk”.

“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’ve 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.” The group, previously named the NSN, had declared it would disband in the hours before the legislation was introduced at a special sitting of parliament in January, but Burke said they had instead “phoenixed”, and that its members had continued operating.

“The neo-Nazis have gone after almost every different group you can imagine, whether people are Jewish, whether they are Muslim, whether people are of Asian heritage, whether they’re First Nations, they’ve engaged in a series of examples of bigotry, all of which fit with their white supremacist ideology,” Burke said.

“It’s been made clear today that under Australian law they are now a banned group.” Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email The group is the second to be listed by the government under the laws, following the Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, both on the advice of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (Asio).

The Coalition’s home affairs spokesperson, Jonathon Duniam, welcomed the move on Friday, and said the public did not want to see individuals avoid justice “simply by tearing down a banner and re-emerging under a different name”.

“The listing sends a clear message that organisations that seek to undermine our society and spread extremist ideology have no place in Australia,” Duniam said in a statement.

The government passed the antisemitism laws – which included the new listing regime – as well as stronger penalties for hate crimes and a gun buyback scheme in response to the Bondi terror attack on 14 December 2025.

The government singled out Hizb ut-Tahrir and the NSN as two groups that showed the need for the new laws. Burke and Asio head Mike Burgess have said the groups operated in a “lawful but awful” manner, previously skirting the higher threshold to be listed as a terror organisation.

Burke said Asio had recommended to the government in April it consider listing White Australia, and that it met the legal threshold.

The legislation will allow the government to use regulation to capture a group that has phoenixed, rather than having to list it separately. Burke said the principle of using the regulation would be based on “whether or not they’re judged to be a continuation of the organisation”.

Burke added there are no other organisations he is aware of that are currently being considered for listing by Asio.

Peter Wertheim, co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, welcomed the listing and said his organisation had been calling for the measure since 2021.

“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.” Explore more on these topics Australian law Tony Burke Australian politics Bondi beach terror attack news Share Reuse this content