Now lawCrime & Courts Introduced in the House of Representatives, 20 Jan 2026

Hate laws now bring longer jail terms and banned groups

Parliament passed this law at a special two-day meeting after the Bondi Beach attack. It goes after hate preachers and people who turn children toward violent hate. It also targets hate groups, and visa holders who spread hate.

Official name: Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism (Criminal and Migration Laws) Bill 2026

Who it affects

• Religious and community leaders: If they urge or threaten violence against a group while acting as a leader, the top jail term rises to 12 years.
• Adults who target children: Pushing hate or violent extreme material at someone under 18 now brings a heavier penalty.
• Members and backers of listed hate groups: Joining, recruiting for, training with, funding or leading a listed group becomes a crime, with up to 15 years in jail.
• People who show Nazi or banned symbols: They now have to point to proof of a good reason, such as news reporting or teaching.
• Visa holders and people applying for visas: They can lose or be refused a visa for hate crimes, links to hate groups or spreading race hate.
• Jewish and other targeted communities: The law aims to protect them better from threats, symbols and violence.

Hanukkah attack at Bondi Beach

On 14 December 2025, terrorists attacked a party for Hanukkah, a Jewish festival, at Bondi Beach in Sydney. Fifteen people were killed and many more were hurt.

In the weeks after, the government took up a plan from its Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism. Antisemitism means hatred of Jewish people. The envoy is a person the government picked to lead the fight against it. The government promised tougher laws on hate speech, hate crimes and hate groups. Parliament was called back early, on 19 and 20 January 2026, to deal with it.

The government first put out one big draft bill. Later it was split in two. This one covers criminal law and visas. A second bill covers guns and the border.

The government says hate speech, violence and extreme views are rising in Australia. It says this law makes sure people who spread hate, and pull others into it, face serious penalties.

Tougher penalties for violent leaders

Australia already has crimes for urging or threatening force or violence against a group. A group here means people who share a trait, such as race, religion or nationality.

This law adds a new, heavier form of those crimes. It applies when the person acts as a religious official, a spiritual leader or another leader of a group. The top penalty for this new crime is 12 years in jail.

The government says people in these roles are trusted, and others look up to them. It says using that trust to push violence deserves a harsher penalty.

Say a preacher tells a crowd to attack people of a certain faith. Before, the top penalty was lower. Now that preacher could face up to 12 years.

Higher penalties for hate crimes

The law also raises the penalty for the basic crimes of urging or threatening violence against groups. The normal top jail term goes from 5 years to 7 years.

Some threats would also put the running of the country at risk. For those, the top jail term goes from 7 years to 10 years.

Using the post or a similar service to scare, harass or offend someone goes from 2 years to 5 years. This now matches the penalty for doing the same thing by phone or online.

These higher penalties only apply to things done after the new rules start. They do not reach back in time.

Race hate adds to sentences

When a judge sentences someone for a federal crime, they weigh up certain things. This law adds a new one.

Some crimes are driven, fully or partly, by hatred of a person's race, nation or ethnic background. The judge must treat that as making the crime more serious.

Showing hatred about race at the time of the crime can prove this. One example is a racist slur shouted during an attack. It does not matter if the victim really belongs to the group the offender hated.

This rule does not apply to the hate crimes that already have hatred built in. The judge already weighs it up there.

Banning hate groups

This is one of the biggest changes. The law sets up a way to list groups as banned hate groups. The minister in charge of the Australian Federal Police, the national police force, can ask for a group to be listed.

The minister must have good reason to believe the group has done, planned, helped with or urged a hate crime. The crime must target people because of their race, nation or ethnic background. The minister must also believe the listing is needed to keep Australians safe.

The Attorney-General, the minister in charge of the law, must agree. The leader of the main party not in government must be told. A listing stays until the minister decides it is no longer needed and removes it.

Once a group is listed, many dealings with it become crimes. Running it, recruiting for it, training with it, funding it or supporting it can bring up to 15 years in jail. Being a member can bring up to 7 years.

Lower penalties of 10 years apply when a person was reckless. That means they knew the group might be listed but went ahead anyway. A member is not guilty if they did all they could to leave as soon as they found out.

Protecting children from radicalisation

Security agencies say more young people are being drawn into violent extreme views. Since the start of 2024, more young people have turned up in anti-terror cases.

The law makes several crimes heavier when an adult aims them at someone under 18. These include urging violence against groups and sharing violent extreme material.

Say an adult sends a 15-year-old videos that cheer on attacks on a religious group. The adult now faces a higher penalty than if they had sent them to an adult.

Stronger rules on hate symbols

It is already a crime to show Nazi symbols in public or give the Nazi salute. It is also a crime to show terror group symbols. There are some allowed reasons, such as news reporting, teaching, art and religion.

Until now, police had to prove the person did not have one of these good reasons. Now the person charged must point to proof that they did. The police lawyers still have to prove their case.

The test for whether showing a symbol is offensive changes too. Courts will ask how it would affect a fair-minded person from the targeted group. One example is a Jewish person seeing a swastika, the hooked cross the Nazis used.

Symbols of listed hate groups join the banned list. A person can be guilty if they were reckless about whether a symbol was banned. Police can now order people to take down banned symbols shown online. They can take away banned symbols shown in public.

Reviews of new powers

A group of MPs and senators checks security laws. It is called the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security. It must look at two parts of this law about two years after they start.

One check looks at the crime for leaders who urge violence. That includes what counts as a spiritual leader. It must look at effects on free speech, religion and the right to gather.

The other check looks at the way hate groups are listed. It asks whether it is needed and fair.

New reasons to cancel visas

People who are not citizens must pass a character test to get or keep a visa. The minister can refuse or cancel a visa when someone fails it.

This law adds new reasons to fail the test. One is if the minister has good reason to suspect a person has been in a terror group. Another is being part of a country that backs terror. Another is being in a listed hate group.

The minister can also act if the person has taken part in a hate crime, even if they were never found guilty. Making or backing public statements that spread race hate also counts, if this could put people at risk. So do statements that say one race is better than others. Statements made overseas or online count.

The government says these are new reasons only. It says they give the minister no new powers. It says people can still ask for the minister's choice to be reviewed, as before.

Permanent ban on character grounds

Right now, a person whose visa is cancelled for failing the character test is shut out of Australia for good. This comes from a visa rule called Special Return Criterion 5001. But a person who was only refused a visa did not face the same ban.

The law closes that gap. Some people are refused a visa for failing the character test and then leave Australia. They are now also barred for good from most visas.

There are two ways out. The refusal can be cancelled. Or the minister can choose to give them a permanent visa later. That is a visa to live here for good.

Say a person on a short-term visa applies to live here for good. They are refused for spreading race hate. They now face the same lifetime ban as someone whose visa was cancelled. This applies to new applications. It also applies to ones still waiting for a decision when the rule starts.

Transitional rules

The law lets two ministers make short-term rules to help move from the old system to the new one. One is the immigration minister. The other is the minister for the tribunal that reviews government decisions. A tribunal is like a court but less formal.

These rules cannot create crimes. They cannot give powers to arrest or search people, or set taxes. For the first 12 months, they can reach back in time, even where that leaves someone worse off.

Start date

The bill was brought to the House of Representatives on 20 January 2026. That is the house of Parliament where the government is formed. Both houses passed it that same day. The government made two changes to it in the House.

It is now listed as an Act, which means it is law. The higher penalties only apply to things done after the parts that set them start.

A Royal Commission is also under way. That is a major public investigation. It looks at antisemitism and how well people from all groups get along. Virginia Bell leads it. She is a former judge of the High Court, Australia's top court. It must report by 14 December 2026.

How they voted

Its journey through Parliament

Official sources

• Bill page on aph.gov.au
• Text of the bill
• Explanatory memorandum
• Bills Digest

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