Hate symbols and terror offences will be punishable with mandatory jail terms ranging from one to six years in Australia, after lawmakers passed a series of amendments to hate crime laws on Thursday.The new laws were passed on Thursday amid a wave of high profile antisemitic attacks which have become a heated topic of debate in the country.

Australia has introduced strict laws to combat hate crimes, introducing mandatory minimum sentences for a range of terrorism offences and the display of hate symbols, following a spate of antisemitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne.

Australia has imposed a mandatory one-year prison sentence for performing the Nazi salute as part of an effort to tackle rising anti-Semitism. Further hate crime amendments passed on Thursday also introduced a minimum jail term of three years for financing terrorism and six years for committing or planning terrorist acts.