GPAHE’s new Australia country report, an updated version of one published in 2022, examines the country’s expanding extremist ecosystem, from neo-Nazi networks and white nationalists to anti-immigrant political parties, and anti-LGBTQ+ organizations. While Australian authorities have taken significant steps to ban prominent extremist groups, the report finds that the underlying networks and ideologies remain active, and in some cases, are moving closer to mainstream politics.
- Australia’s far right is bigger than its neo-Nazi movement
Australia’s far right is a powerful network of neo-Nazis, white nationalists, anti-immigrant political movements, conspiracy groups, and anti-LGBTQ+ organizations that increasingly intersect in their ideas, audiences, and networks. GPAHE’s research shows that the movement extends far beyond openly neo-Nazi groups, with extremist rhetoric and organizing increasingly entering Australia’s political and cultural mainstream.
- Australia’s far right has deep historical roots
GPAHE traces Australian white supremacy to the country’s colonial history and to longstanding policies aimed at restricting and demonizing non-white immigrants. Those policies remained in place for decades, while Aboriginal Australians faced dispossession, violence, forced assimilation, and the removal of children from their families.That history continues to shape the rhetoric of contemporary extremists, including movements that portray multiculturalism and immigration as threats to a supposedly white Australian identity.
- One Nation is gaining ground
Perhaps the most significant political development documented in the report is the growing influence of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation. Once a fringe political force, the party has expanded its representation and membership and made significant electoral gains. Hanson has built her political profile around opposition to immigration and multiculturalism and has repeatedly targeted Muslims and Islam, including appearing in a burqa in the Senate as a stunt calling for the garment to be banned. In July 2026, she spoke at CPAC London, an international gathering affiliated with the U.S. conservative conference, where she criticized immigration and environmental policies. During the same trip, she appeared on British anti-Muslim activist Tommy Robinson’s podcast and joined him on a tour of Luton.
- Thomas Sewell remains central to Australia’s neo-Nazi movement
Thomas Sewell is one of the most prominent figures in Australia’s contemporary white nationalist movement. His National Socialist Network (NSN) grew out of earlier organizations including the Lads Society and Antipodean Resistance and became one of Australia’s most prominent neo-Nazi groups before being banned in 2026. The NSN openly promoted National Socialism, white nationalism, racism, and antisemitism.
Sewell has also sought to turn the movement into something more powerful than a street-based organization, including through political organizing and efforts to build a broader white nationalist community.In one appearance, he described his efforts as having transformed scattered extremist activity into a much larger movement.
- Banning extremist groups has not ended the movement
In 2026, the National Socialist Network, European Australia Movement, and White Australia were banned under Australia’s new anti-extremism laws. Membership, funding, recruitment, or leadership of now prohibited organizations can carry prison sentences of up to 15 years. But the report shows how quickly extremist networks can adapt. Former members have raised money for a legal challenge to the ban, while Sewell has continued appearing on far-right livestreams. Sewell’s reach extends well beyond Australia. He has appeared on livestreams with prominent white nationalists and far-right activists from the United Kingdom, United States, and Canada, and has appeared on the English-language podcast of the Nordic Resistance Movement, a major European neo-Nazi organization. These relationships demonstrate how Australia’s far right operates within a much larger international ecosystem.
- Neo-Nazis gain political power
One of the more disturbing developments documented by the report is the effort by Sewell’s network to establish political vehicles. White Australia emerged as a political partner to the National Socialist Network and was intended to translate the movement’s white nationalist ideology into political organizing.This reflects a broader evolution within the movement, using protests and propaganda to build visibility while developing political organizations.
- Anti-LGBTQ+ activism joins the broader far right
The report also examines organizations such as Binary Australia, whose campaigns against the transgender community have echoed anti-LGBTQ+ hate rhetoric prominent in the U.S. and in the international anti-LGBTQ+ movement. GPAHE’s research also documents how anti-trans activism has moved beyond political rhetoric into organized campaigns targeting individuals. In 2024, Binary Australia leader Kirralie Smith, for example, was placed under a two-year apprehended violence order (AVO) after targeting a transgender football player. That same year she was found guilty of “vilification” for the targeting of two different transgender women who also played football at their local clubs. Smith was ordered to pay $95,000 to the women and make a public apology.
- Australia has become a hub for the Active Club movement
Australia has also played a role in the growth of the international Active Club network, a decentralized white supremacist movement that combines physical training, neo-Nazi propaganda, and recruitment. GPAHE previously identified five Active Club-like groups in Australia, all connected to Thomas Sewell’s European Australia Movement. The groups are part of a broader international network that has expanded across Europe, North America, and Australia, demonstrating how Australia’s far right is connected to newer forms of militant, decentralized organizing.
- Extremists are exploiting political and social unrest
Australia’s far right has repeatedly used moments of political and social tension to expand its reach. Anti-immigrant demonstrations and protests have brought together groups that do not always share the same ideology, creating opportunities for neo-Nazis and white nationalists to recruit new supporters and push extremist narratives.
- The far right is adapting faster than the organizations being banned
One of the central insights of the report is that Australia’s far right cannot be understood simply by counting active extremist organizations. Groups can disappear, rebrand, reorganize, move online, or establish new political vehicles while their networks and ideologies remain intact. GPAHE notes that its list itself likely understates the number of far-right groups in Australia.
