The Nazi salute and hate symbols will be outlawed under new counter-terrorism laws.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the government was drawing a line in the sand on glorifying hatred.

Dreyfus said the bill sent a message that “there is no place in Australia for acts and symbols that glorify the horrors of the Holocaust and terrorist acts”.

The amendments will be introduced to parliament on Wednesday, making the salute a criminal offence under Commonwealth law.

“The amendments will ensure that no one will be allowed to glorify or profit from acts and symbols which celebrate the Nazis and their evil ideology,” he said.

“There is absolutely no place in Australia for hatred, violence and anti-Semitism.”

The Islamic State flag will be removed from the bill, but a new offence will cover symbols used by proscribed terrorist organisations.

There will also be stronger protections for journalists.

Earlier this month, a Melbourne man became the first person charged under the new Victorian law outlawing Nazi salutes and symbols.

Detectives interviewed the 24-year-old following allegations the banned gesture was performed outside a Melbourne court in October.

The Point Cook man was charged on summons for breaching the new law which came into effect late in October, police say.

“Police are taking a zero-tolerance approach to any breach on the prohibition on performing Nazi salutes or displaying Nazi symbols in public,” a Victoria Police spokesperson said.

-AAP