A mother-daughter shopping night appears to have turned ugly after security at a Sydney pharmacist allegedly racially profiled the pair.
Malyangapa Barkindji musician Barkaa, a superstar of the rap scene, took to Instagram to detail an alleged incident between her family and staff at a Chemist Warehouse on Wednesday night.
Barkaa, born Chloe Quayle, had taken her daughter to the store that evening to celebrate recent good grades, purchasing beauty and hair care products.
"When we were stopped by security asking for a receipt, I went back to the counter to print a receipt," she wrote in a post.
"As I was watching others walk out the shop, [I] asked him 'Are you going to ask them for a receipt?'”
The musician alleges that the security guard then accused her 14-year-old daughter of theft, and that another employee threatened to call the police over the incident.
Barkaa also alleges in the post that the security guard “put his hand on” her as they tried to leave the store.
The security guard allegedly accused Barkaa's daughter of stealing during the shopping trip.
In the Instagram post, Barkaa demanded that the organisation fire the security guard and implement a Reconciliation Action Plan.
"I will be making a formal complaint. Enough is enough, my babies don’t have to go through this," she wrote.
By Thursday, the post had received thousands of likes and hundreds of comments from some of Barkaa's almost 90 thousand followers.
Many offered messages of support, while others turned their anger towards Chemist Warehouse, which is tagged in the post.
"So sorry," posted Noongar journalist Narelda Jacobs.
"This is the second time you’ve had to school a retailer. Hope you’re ok x."
"Enough is enough. Our children matter, their lives, safety, and innocence free from surveillance and profile targeting," wrote Bundjulung lawyer Nessa Turnbull Roberts.
NITV has contacted Chemist Warehouse for comment on the alleged incident.
Barkaa received apology for 2022 racial profiling incident
It's not the first time the 29-year-old musician has alleged racial profiling.
In 2022, Barkaa received an apology from retailer Kmart following an incident in one of their stores, again involving her family.
The mother-of-three took to Instagram after store employees followed them during a shopping trip, and demanded to look through their bags after checking out.
“Three workers then came over and proceeded to pull the items I just bought out of the bag in front of others at the store, and didn’t check anybody else’s bag who were leaving the store," she wrote.
The musician said she had been left feeling “humiliated and ashamed” by the incident.
“I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired," she said.
Speaking to news outlets, the retailer said they had contacted Barkaa directly, and admitted “we have not delivered on this experience this time around”.
