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A man who changed his signature to a drawing of a penis "for a laugh" has lost a five-year battle with Australian authorities for it to be recognised.

Jared Hyams scrawled the eyebrow-raising moniker at the bottom of a form for the Australian Electoral Commission as a joke.

But he had no idea it would land him in a five-year legal battle with various authorities to accept it as a signature.

He said: "I thought it would be a laugh; they would approve it and next year I would sign something different.

(Image: Sydney Morning Herald)

"But when I did this signature all of a sudden the shit hit the fan. I was receiving letters and phone calls telling me I couldn't have it. I thought, that's interesting, why not?"

So the 33-year-old Melbourne man did what anyone would do - he signed up to study for a law degree, determined to take on the Australian government.

(Image: Sydney Morning Herald)

He 'adopted' the phallic symbol as his own signature and used it to successfully applied for an licence to drive in Victoria, a government proof of age card, a health care card and various student cards.

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The joker even opened a bank account bearing his newfound tag.

But some agencies didn't share his sense of humour - VicRoads, who process licences for drivers, initially rejected his signature.

(Image: Beau Donelly/Sydney Morning Herald)

Jared fought his case twice, but both times were thrown out by a magistrate. The scrawl only appear on his licence when it 'slipped through the net'.

The Department of Trade and Foreign Affairs refused him a passport bearing the symbol and warned it "could constitute sexual harassment" of staff.

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And the Department of Justice rejected his application for a Working With Children criminal check - but Jared admitted he has "sensitivity" to their decision.

(Image: Sydney Morning Herald)

So far, Jared has had no luck in using the scribbled penis to change his address on the electoral roll - even after taking on the lengthy battle himself.

He maintains he'll continue to fight the authorities until they no longer object to his signature.

Meanwhile, the Electoral Commission announced they would be including their victory in the "rather novel" case in their annual report.