Sports star turned motivational speaker Joe Williams has accused security personnel at a Sydney department store of racially profiling his children.

The former NRL South Sydney player said his kids were left feeling humiliated after being stalked by security at David Jones on Pitt Street on Saturday.

His son Brodi, 13, niece Deminika, 12, and daughter Phoenix were on a shopping trip with their grandmother to spend Christmas money in Sydney.

Mr Williams, who is Indigenous, took to social media to vent his frustrations, and the department store was quick to apologise.

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Mr Williams told the ABC the boys' grandmother had confronted the guards.

"My boy had a jacket in his hands he was going to buy," Mr Williams said.

"My mum and partner were behind them watching and then the guards came in between them and started following them closely.

"Mum then pulled the guards up and asked 'What are you guys doing and why are you doing it?

"They didn't say a word back and quickly walked off. There was no 'sorry', they just left."

Brodi (L) and Phoenix Williams, children of former NRL player Joe Williams. ( Supplied )

'These are good kids'

Mr Williams was not present at the store and was told the story by family members. He said his son was affected by the incident.

"My 13-year-old is a highly emotional boy and he felt humiliated once he realised what was going on," he said.

"This sort of traumatic experience can have an effect on kids for years. Something like this can damage their confidence.

"These are good kids, they have won awards for public speaking, they are excelling at school and sport and have acted in television programs here and overseas.

David Jones was criticised on social media. ( ABC News: Nic MacBean )

"Incidents like this make them feel not good enough, they are thinking 'why are they following us? Why aren't they following other people? Why are we less than them? Why are they assuming, without even knowing us, that we are up to no good?'"

David Jones replied to Mr Williams via its official Twitter account, apologising for the experience and inviting him to contact the company via email so it may investigate the incident.

"I get that they may have subcontracted external people to do the security, and they can't control all of that," he said.

"But at the end of the day, it is in their store and they have to be responsible for that. This is putting racial tension and trauma onto the kids."

A spokesperson for David Jones confirmed the incident would be investigated.

"David Jones is deeply committed to promoting diversity within Australian society and we recognise that we need to play an active role in overcoming racism in meeting that commitment," the spokesperson said.