The regional Victorian city of Ballarat has experienced its second alleged Islamophobic attack in the space of a week, after a man hurled racial abuse at female staff at a local pharmacy.
Sarah, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, was working at the pharmacy with an intern on March 14 when a regular customer expressed frustration about a dispensing protocol.
She said the customer began yelling Islamophobic and racial remarks including “go back to where you came from”.
“He said ‘F*** you, f*** this pharmacy, f*** all of you Muslims — I’m going to another Aussie pharmacy from now on, f*** Islam’.”
She said it caused “significant distress to staff members” and “created an unsafe working environment”.
A regular customer allegedly hurled abuse at two female Muslim workers. (
ABC News: Matt Roberts
)
‘Shocked’
Pharmacy owner Mo, whose name has been changed to protect his identity, said he had never seen this type of behaviour before from this customer, who he had been serving for years.
“I am shocked — it’s unwarranted, unexpected and it is disheartening,” he said.
“The customer had showed dissatisfaction before but [had] never [been] this racial.”
But he said he was noticing an increase in this kind of behaviour in the community.
“People can be verbally abusive when it comes to someone that is either brown or visibly Muslim. They get the confidence to spew hatred, which is not right,” he said.
Mo said this incident had “somewhat broken the staff’s morale”.
He said he had contacted the police and was receiving advice on the next steps.
Acting Inspector Brad Hall told ABC Statewide Mornings the police were still gathering information.Â
“We have had some conversations with the pharmacy owner and we’re yet to establish what exactly happened [at the pharmacy] but we’ll work through that one in the same way we’re working through the one at the community centre,” he said.
Second attack in a week
Victoria Police say they are considering charges. (Supplied)
It is the second alleged Islamophobic incident in Ballarat in the space of a week.
A man allegedly threw abuse and punches after barging into a dinner run by the Muslim community in Ballarat on March 8.
Victoria Police initially said the man was interviewed and given a direction to move on.
The police have since revised the statement to say that the man was arrested first, before being released.
“I can categorically say the individual that was behaving abhorrently, was arrested and taken into custody,” Inspector Hall said.
“He was interviewed and as law would dictate released from custody.”
Inspector Hall said the offender was not taken to the Ballarat Police Station for the interview.
“[The offender] was taken into custody, he was marched out of the community location in handcuffs where he was detained out the front, spoken to and released from custody,” Inspector Hall said.
“To further dissolve the situation [the offender] was taken home.”
On March 18, police met with the Muslim community in Ballarat to discuss the case, and their safety concerns.
The investigation remains ongoing.
Islamophobia on the rise
A 2025 report by Monash and Deakin university researchers funded by Islamophobia Register Australia found an increase in anti-Muslim rhetoric during 2023-2024.
“The period saw more than double the number of verified incidents compared to any previous reporting period,” the report read.
“[These included] physical assaults requiring hospitalisation, an arson attack, a genuine explosive device left at a residence, and widespread verbal abuse including threats of murder and rape.”
Matteo Vergani says the perceived lack of consequences from the iftar dinner incident is concerning. (Supplied)
One of the chief investigators of the report, Matteo Vergani, said anti-Muslim sentiments were widespread.
“We know there is a substantial part of the population that sees the Muslim population with suspicion,” Mr Vergani said.
“On top of this there are political parties and far-right organisations and groups accusing Muslims of being part of an unregulated flow of immigration, which [they claim] is threatening the culture and identity of Australia.”