The AFP has charged a 43-year-old United Kingdom citizen living in Queensland with allegedly displaying prohibited Nazi symbols.
The man's arrest came ahead of a week-long national blitz on the distribution and display of prohibited symbols. This resulted in charges against a 21-year-old Queensland man, with a 25-year-old man from Sydney's northwest also served a court attendance notice.
The overt disruption activity was carried out by the AFP's National Security Investigations (NSI) teams as part of a targeted focus on individuals and groups damaging Australia's social cohesion.
The AFP's Brisbane NSI team started an investigation in October into the UK citizen, who allegedly used two different handles on X (formerly known as Twitter) to display the Nazi Hakenkreuz and espouse a pro-Nazi ideology with a specific hatred of the Jewish community, and to advocate for violence towards this community.
The AFP has alleged the man posted content that violated Commonwealth law on several occasions between 10 October, 2025, and 5 November, 2025. It is alleged X blocked the main account the man was using, which lead him to create a second handle with a similar name to continue posting offensive, harmful and targeted content.
With assistance from the Queensland Police Service, the AFP executed a search warrant at a Caboolture home on 21 November, 2025, and seized one mobile phone and several weapons, including swords bearing swastika symbology, axes and knives.
The man was charged with:
- Three counts of public display of prohibited Nazi symbols, contrary to section 80.2H of the Criminal Code (Cth); and
- One count of using a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offence, contrary to section 474.17 of the Criminal Code (Cth).
The charges carry a respective maximum penalty of five years' and three years' imprisonment.
The man faced Caboolture Magistrates Court last Wednesday (3 December, 2025) with the matter adjourned until 7 January, 2026.
The separate week-long NSI operation, which focused on disrupting the importation and potential sale of prohibited symbols, concluded on Thursday (4 December, 2025).
It involved 14 separate disruption activities across NSW, Queensland, Western Australia and Victoria that led to the voluntary surrender of multiple items containing a prohibited symbol.
AFP investigators also seized two flags and two prohibited extremist books.
This overt activity resulted in the arrest of a 21-year-old Queensland man after AFP officers executed a search warrant at a Brisbane home on Thursday (4 December, 2025) following the importation of a significant quantity of flags and literature.
During the warrant, a review of the man's electronic devices allegedly identified items determined to be violent extremist material.
The man was subsequently charged with two counts of possessing or controlling violent extremist material, contrary to section 474.45C of the Criminal Code (Cth). The maximum penalty for this offence is five years' imprisonment.
He appeared before Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday (5 December, 2025), with the matter adjourned until 16 January, 2026.
The 25-year-old man from Sydney was issued with a court attendance notice after investigators executed a search warrant at a Castle Hill property on 27 November, 2025.
It will be alleged the man used a Nazi salute at a recent public gathering in Sydney.
He will face one count of perform a Nazi salute in public, contrary to section 80.2H of the Criminal Code (Cth). This offence carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 12 months' imprisonment.
The week-long NSI operation drew on data and intelligence shared by Australian Border Force (ABF), a key contributor to Australia's operational picture of harmful propaganda imports.
While it is not an offence to import items containing prohibited symbols, a number of items identified through ABF examinations were referred to the AFP for further investigation.
AFP Assistant Commissioner Stephen Nutt said the AFP would not hesitate to act against threats to Australia's social cohesion, not just through the laying of charges but also through education, disruption and deterrence activities.
He said the week-long blitz gave NSI teams a powerful opportunity to provide education on potential offences regarding the trading of prohibited materials.
"This week of disruption was as much about ensuring people were not inadvertently committing criminal offences as it was about bolstering our efforts to safeguard social cohesion," Assistant Commissioner Nutt said.
This included providing the recipients of the identified consignments with AFP information factsheets on the Public Display of a Prohibited Terrorist Organisation Symbol. This was done to ensure people were fully aware of their legal obligations in relation to items containing prohibited symbols.
"The AFP will not tolerate any forms of intimidation, threats or calls for violence against vulnerable communities," Assistant Commissioner Nutt said.
"We want to ensure these symbols are not being used to fracture social cohesion. If we identify instances where this is happening, we will act swiftly to disrupt the behaviour, prosecute those involved and protect the dignity, safety and cohesion of our diverse community."
ABF Assistant Commissioner Tony Smith said Australian Border Force played a critical role in enforcing Australia's customs, migration and citizenship laws to prevent the passage of violent extremists, and goods used to support extremist activities across Australia's border.
ABF's frontline visibility and specialised border intelligence forms a critical part of Australia's operational picture, strengthening our collective understanding of behaviours that threaten our social cohesion," Assistant Commissioner Smith said.
"This week of action reinforces that we will work diligently with our partners to identify and intercept those who may threaten our community safety and cohesion, at the border and beyond."
The AFP set up the NSI teams in September, 2025, to target groups and individuals causing high levels of harm to Australia's social cohesion, including the targeting of the Jewish community.
