Summary Offences Act 1953

A person who engages in a prohibited act is guilty of an offence.

A person does not contravene subsection (1) if the prohibited act was engaged in for a legitimate public purpose.

For the purposes of subsection (2), an act will only be taken to be for a legitimate public purpose if the act was in the public interest having regard to the following:

whether the act was for a genuine academic, artistic, religious or scientific purpose;

whether the act was for a genuine cultural or educational purpose;

whether the act was for the purpose of making or publishing a fair and accurate report of any event or matter of public interest;

whether the act was in opposition to fascism, Nazism, neo-Nazism or other related ideologies.

However, an act will be taken not to be for a legitimate public purpose where the act is for a purpose that a reasonable person would understand to be directly or indirectly encouraging, glorifying, promoting or condoning fascism, Nazism, neo-Nazism or other related ideologies.

A law enforcement officer or a member of an intelligence agency does not contravene subsection (1) if the prohibited act occurs in the performance of the officer's or member's duties and is done in good faith.

A person does not contravene subsection (1) if the prohibited act 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.

If a person is found guilty of an offence under subsection (1) the court may, in addition to imposing a penalty for the offence, make an order requiring the defendant to pay the reasonable costs and expenses of any action taken for the purposes of removing any relevant Nazi symbols from display.