A 25-year-old man has become the first person convicted in the Australian state of Victoria of performing an illegal Nazi salute.

Jacob Hersant, a self-described neo-Nazi, made the gesture and praised Adolf Hitler in front of news media cameras outside the Victoria County Court on October 27 of last year after he had appeared there on an unrelated charge.

A magistrate dismissed the defense's arguments that the legislation was constitutionally invalid.

He made the salute just six days after the Victoria state government outlawed the gesture.

Up to a year in jail

Imitating the Victoria state decision, the Federal Parliament passed the law two months later, outlawing the performance of the fascist salute in public across Australia, or to publicly display, or trade in, Nazi hate symbols.

Anti-Defamation Commission chair Dvir Abramovich, a leading opponent of antisemitism in Australia, said the verdict was "a historic and thundering day for justice and decency."

The man is due to be sentenced on Wednesday and could face up to 12 months in prison for the offense.

jsi/wmr (AP)