Case Explained: Neo-Nazi group NSN disbanded ahead of Labor’s Hate Crime Laws – Legal Perspective

Thomas Sewell, the former leader of Australia’s National Socialist Network (NSN), has announced that the neo-Nazi organisation has formally disbanded, warning followers to limit their interactions to avoid legal consequences under new federal hate group legislation.

Speaking in a recent interview with American white nationalist channel Red Ice, Sewell described the group’s dissolution as “game over” for the NSN, while claiming that “our mission has actually been accomplished.”

The NSN, founded in 2020, was Australia’s most prominent white nationalist organisation, with around 350 formal members and thousands of supporters. The group had staged increasingly provocative demonstrations in recent years, including an August 2025 march through Melbourne’s central business district with 150 members holding a banner reading “White Man Fight Back.” Several members, including Sewell, have faced charges related to violent incidents at anti-immigration protests. High-ranking member Joel Davis remains in jail facing harassment charges after allegedly encouraging threats against federal MP Allegra Spender.

Sewell instructed followers to “make new friends” and avoid meeting multiple former members at once, citing the risk of imprisonment under the Labor government’s sweeping new hate crime laws. These laws, introduced in response to the December 14 Bondi terror attack, aim to formally ban extremist groups, tighten racial vilification rules, and introduce a national gun buyback program. Federal MPs have been recalled to Canberra for an extraordinary parliamentary session to pass the legislation, although debates continue over possible amendments to balance free speech concerns with the ban on groups such as the NSN and Hizb ut-Tahrir.

Sewell compared the NSN’s disbandment to the experience of Britain’s National Action, which was banned as a terrorist organisation in 2016. He stressed that while individuals can continue social interactions, forming organised groups or gatherings risks legal consequences. Sewell himself has raised nearly $120,000 via crowdfunding for a High Court challenge to the laws, claiming the legislation bans organised white nationalist activity rather than free expression online.

ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess confirmed that former NSN members will continue to be monitored, warning that extremist individuals could attempt to go underground. Liberal Senator Jonathon Duniam welcomed the NSN’s disbandment, stressing that groups promoting racism and anti-Semitism have no place in Australia, while calling on the government to prevent reconstitution under alternative names.

The NSN’s public activities had recently intensified, including a controversial anti-Semitic protest outside NSW Parliament. Immigration authorities have already used visa cancellations to remove foreign nationals linked to the group, underscoring the government’s determination to prevent extremist networks from operating in Australia.

The disbandment marks a significant moment in Australia’s efforts to combat hate groups and white nationalist extremism, demonstrating the government’s resolve to close legal loopholes and monitor potentially dangerous individuals.