The authorities of the state of New South Wales of Australia intend to considerably toughen the penalties for inciting racial hatred and anti-Semitism and assess such behavior as a criminal offense, the regional government told TASS.

According to the new respective legislation already submitted to the local parliament, inciting hatred on national or racial grounds will be considered a criminal offense, punishable by up to two years in prison and a fine of 11,000 Australian dollars (about 7,000 US dollars) for citizens and 55,000 Australian dollars (about 35,000 US dollars) for organizations.

In addition, the penalties will be toughened for painting Nazi symbols on buildings or around synagogues and Jewish schools in New South Wales.

Sydney, the capital of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia, has previously recorded a number of incidents related to anti-Semitism. In areas where Jews are densely populated, cars were set on fire, and anti-Semitic graffiti and calls to break relations with Israel were written on the walls of houses and synagogues.