Arab Australian vows to fight parliament 'keffiyeh ban' after being denied entry

A Sydney man visited Parliament House with his mother, only to be rejected for wearing his cultural garment

Sydney man William Madani at Parliament House on September 2, 2025

An Australian man of Jordanian heritage has vowed to take action after being denied entry into the federal parliamentary chambers for wearing a traditional Arab garment from his native Jordan.

William Madani, a Sydney resident, was refused entry into the chambers while visiting Parliament House on September 2.

"I'll need to take further action, including via the Human Rights Commission and possibly the federal court, because I understand that whatever policy or approach that my exclusion fell under is fundamentally wrong and racist," he told Deepcut.

‘Felt powerless and embarrassed’

Madani accompanied his mother to Australia's seat of democracy for a medical conference on September 2. He decided to step out of the conference in the afternoon to watch Question Time proceedings in both the House of Representatives and Senate chambers.

"I was dressed in a suit and my red and white Jordanian hatta," he said. "I had been wearing my hatta all day and in fact I wear it on most days."

A hatta is a red-and-white variation of the Palestinian black-and-white keffiyeh typically worn in Jordan.

Except, upon approaching the Senate, Madani was halted by a guard.

"I was told by a security guard that I would have to check in my keffiyeh. I was surprised by this and only responded with, ‘But I don’t want to’, to which the security regard responded, ‘Well then you can’t come in’," he said.

Madani then proceeded to enter the House of Representatives, only to receive the same response.

"I told [the security guard] that what I was wearing was a Jordanian hatta, that Jordanian was my cultural heritage and that I did not wish to remove my hatta."

The guard escalated the matter, and as Madani waited, he saw three individuals enter the chamber "wearing beautiful and elaborate clothing which appeared to me to be traditional cultural wear of Central Asian origin".

"Whilst happy that they could go and watch Question Time, I couldn’t help but feel very excluded. Their presence emphasised the point to me that cultural dress was permitted - just not from my culture," he said.

After a short wait, the guard returned and confirmed that Madani's entry was denied – unless he cloaked his hatta.

"I said I wouldn’t – what kind of person would I be, if having been rejected on the basis of my cultural identity, I would then try to then hide it in order to gain access?"

"I walked away with a mix of emotions. I felt silly, powerless, embarrassed," he said.

Senate allows keffiyehs, House of Reps do not

In response to questions sent by Deepcut, a spokesperson for the Department of Parliamentary Services (DPS) said Madani "was denied entry to the Senate galleries in error".

"The Senate galleries are open to all and there are no restrictions based on a person’s race, culture or religious beliefs," they said.

"DPS has provided the team that were on duty with a reminder of the entry conditions to the Senate Chamber. We work hard to ensure visitors enjoy their visit to Australian Parliament House and regret that in this case the visitor’s experience was not positive," the spokesperson added.

Restrictions on cultural garments in the House of Representatives were not as clear when comment was sought from the office of the Serjeant-at-Arms.

A spokesperson affirmed that "the House of Representatives galleries are open to all and there are no restrictions based on a person’s race, culture or religious beliefs". In the same email, however, the spokesperson conceded that Madani "was denied entry after refusing to cloak the hafta (SIC)".

When asked a follow-up question to clarify whether there were restrictions on Arab Australians wearing cultural garments in the lower house, the spokesperson did not reply.

Their original email noted, however, that "the Speaker of the House of Representatives determines what items are permitted in the public galleries of the House of Representatives chamber based on security advice and informed by previous incidents".

The speaker, Labor MP Milton Dick, provided no comment.

'Unacceptable' and 'discriminatory'

Arif Hussein, senior lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre, condemned Madani's refusal as "unacceptable".

"Everyone has the right to be free from discrimination and have their culture respected, including and especially at Parliament House and our national institutions," Hussein said.

"Parliament House belongs to the people. No one should be turned away or discriminated against for wearing their cultural attire. World leaders, dignitaries, cultural groups, and everyday regularly wear traditional dress in Parliament – it is a mark of pride, identity, and cultural recognition."

Madani spent several days processing the incident, before deciding to pursue legal avenues to remove parliamentary bans on Arab cultural attire.

While the House of Representatives maintains an ambiguous policy on rejecting Arab cultural garments, the Victorian parliament stands alone as having an explicit policy banning the keffiyeh.

"It cannot be allowed to remain in place and the decisions which led to that policy ought to be brought to light," he said.

"I also think it's pretty unacceptable that during a genocide of Arabs that the Arab identity expressed via a hatta or a keffiyeh is specifically prohibited in our parliament."