The Australian Press Council has from time to time received complaints about the terminology used to describe World War Two Nazi death camps that were situated in occupied Poland.
In May 1999, in Adjudication No. 1025, the Council upheld a complaint about the use of the term "Polish concentration camp" to describe them. The Council noted in that finding that such usage "would have been harmfully misleading to younger readers and others whose knowledge of the Second World War is hazy or non-existent".
The Council has now received a joint request from the Ambassadors to Australia of the Republic of Poland and the State of Israel that the media generally cease using the misleading term "Polish concentration camp", which they say is harmful to both communities in Australia and adversely impacts on Polish-Jewish relations in general.
In response to their request, the Press Council reiterates its conclusion from 1999 and seeks the cooperation of the print media in avoiding the potentially offensive terminology. A more accurate and appropriate description for the camps would be "Nazi concentration camps", adding their location as being "in occupied Poland" where necessary.