Overview
- Richardson received a 12-month good behaviour bond with a recorded conviction after a November guilty finding for intentionally performing a gesture likely to be mistaken for a Nazi salute.
- The court-ordered program requires a written apology to the Australian Jewish community, 10 counselling sessions, museum-based education at the Jewish Museum of Australia and the Melbourne Holocaust Museum, and a day shadowing a leader from the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.
- Magistrate Justin Foster criticised a post Richardson made on X after the verdict and questioned his remorse, warning that failure to comply could see the case returned to court with penalties up to a $23,000 fine or 12 months in jail.
- The gesture occurred during a September 2024 National Workers Alliance event in Melbourne that was livestreamed and attended by neo-Nazis, and the magistrate said Richardson knew the act was illegal but did it anyway.
- The court accepted expert evidence distinguishing an actual Nazi salute from a lookalike gesture showing no allegiance to Hitler, while the defence called the act a spur-of-the-moment response to media coverage and noted professional fallout including loss of NDIS accreditation.