Bikinis banned on Sydney bus after modesty complaints

A Sydney council has banned beachgoers from boarding a group bus whereas shirtless or sporting bikinis, reigniting a decades-old debate over public decency in Australia.

“Please dress appropriately. Clothing must be worn over swimwear,” reads an indication for the Hop, Skip and Jump bus, which is funded by Northern Beaches Council and drives by the northern Sydney suburbs of Manly, Fairlight and Balgowlah. The signal was proven in a report by CNN affiliate 7News Sydney on Friday.

Bus is the primary type of public transportation within the coastal area, the council’s website states.

Denying passengers a journey as a consequence of their clothes, or lack of it, might be all the way down to the driving force’s discretion, in line with 7News.

The change follows complaints from passengers, in line with CNN affiliate 9News, with many older commuters in help of the restriction.

“We’re a bit old-fashioned. We’d probably like people to dress properly, especially if you’re on public transport,” one lady informed 7News.

Another lady described passengers sporting swimwear as “confronting,” including that the bus is “small” and “very contained.”

“I think it’s a little off-putting sometimes when you see people get on with virtually no clothes on,” one man stated.

However, “the problem becomes where you draw the line,” a youthful lady stated, including that “a lot of people will wear activewear on buses.”

The council has not but added the brand new rule to its code of conduct for the bus service on its web site. The code already instructs passengers to not eat, drink or smoke on the bus, or board with giant objects resembling surfboards when the bus is full.

CNN had reached out to the council for additional remark.

Australia has an extended historical past of controversy over beachwear.

In the early Nineteen Sixties, a long time of tensions between feminine beachgoers and the native authority within the jap Sydney suburb of Waverley rose to the purpose of being dubbed “the bikini war” by native media, in line with native council archives. Similar “wars” raged elsewhere in Sydney, 7News reported.

It adopted the arrests of greater than 50 ladies on Bondi Beach throughout an extended weekend in October 1961, after a 1935 ordinance required bathing fits to satisfy strict measurements, with seaside inspectors imposing the rule.

While the ordinance was deserted later in 1961 in favor of an easier requirement for “proper and adequate” swimsuits, debate over applicable beachwear continues.

In 2024, a name for a ban on sporting G-string bikinis on the streets of Australia’s jap Gold Coast sparked protests and nationwide debate.