Display of Nazi Memorabilia in a vintage store

June 2024

Carmen* is Jewish. She came across a vintage store which openly sells Nazi memorabilia including a copy of “Mein Kompf”, Nazi uniforms, Swastikas, “Nazi Youden” propaganda, and Nazi pamphlets. She said she felt the memorabilia vilified Jewish people on the ground of race and religion, and made her and other Jewish people feel unsafe.

Carmen lodged a complaint with ADNSW. She was not aware that the display of Nazi symbols was now an offence under section 93ZA of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) and that penalties applied. The conciliation officer alerted Carmen to this, and explained how ADNSW would deal with the complaint, including the process of conciliation and the potential outcomes available at ADNSW. Carmen said that the outcome she sought was to have the offending material removed. She was allowed time to get legal advice and to contact police in order to decide whether to continue with her complaint at ADNSW. 

When Carmen contacted NSW Police, she was advised that the store was already under investigation. They had previously received a similar complaint from another member of the public. Carmen was satisfied with the police advice that the matter was under investigation and decided not to proceed with her complaint at ADNSW.

* Name has been changed to protect the privacy of the individual