An Armidale man has been charged with alleged hate crimes following an Australian Federal Police investigation into threatening and offensive material posted online.
The 30-year-old man is expected to appear before Armidale Local Court on 30 March, 2026, after being charged by the Australian Federal Police on 11 March.
The charges follow an investigation by an AFP National Security Investigations team that began in November 2025 after police received a notification about a threatening and offensive post on a social media platform.
Investigators later linked the Armidale man to the alleged post.
During the investigation, officers also identified an image of a hat displaying a Nazi symbol that was allegedly on one of the man’s social media accounts.
Police executed a search warrant at a home in Armidale on 11 March before charging the man.
He was granted bail and will face Armidale Local Court later this month.
The man has been charged with five counts of using a carriage service (phone or internet) to menace, harass or cause offence, contrary to section 474.17 of the Criminal Code (Cth), and one count of the public display of prohibited Nazi symbols or giving a Nazi salute, contrary to section 80.2H of the Criminal Code (Cth).
Each offence carries a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment.
Section 80.2H, which makes it an offence to publicly display Nazi symbols or perform a Nazi salute, was enacted in November 2024. It predates the most recent federal hate crime laws introduced following the Chanukah Massacre at Bondi Beach in December 2025, but was part of an earlier response to steadily increasing antisemitism.
AFP Detective Superintendent Jeremy Staunton said police would act against people who used online platforms to spread threats or hate.
“Police have the tools and resources to identify individuals or groups who seek to promote hate and fear within our community, even if they are trying to hide behind the anonymity of a keyboard, social media or email account,” Det Supt Staunton said.
The investigation forms part of the AFP’s National Security Investigations program, which was established in October 2025 to target individuals and groups responsible for behaviour considered harmful to Australia’s social cohesion, including the targeting of the Jewish community.
Armidale itself does not have a notable history of organised Nazi activity. In the weeks following the Chanukah Massacre, the city was among the few communities outside Sydney to hold a public memorial in support of the Jewish community and the victims of the attack.
AFP has confirmed the man lives in Armidale but none of the alleged offending behaviour occurred in the city, with all of the activity taking place online.
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