The owner of a West Australian t-shirt store that has been criticised for selling a top emblazoned with the words "wife basher" in its front window says it simply refers to a popular beer, in a move that has angered anti-domestic violence advocates.

Key points: The deaths of Hannah Clarke and her children has thrown the spotlight on domestic violence

The deaths of Hannah Clarke and her children has thrown the spotlight on domestic violence The store's owner says the t-shirt is a joke referencing a WA beer

The store's owner says the t-shirt is a joke referencing a WA beer Women's Domestic Violence Council WA have labelled it a disgrace

A picture of the shirt advertised in the storefront, in the WA city of Mandurah, has been widely circulated on social media as the nation reels from the deaths of Hannah Clarke and her three children at the hands of her estranged ex-husband.

Rowan Baxter doused Ms Clarke and the couple's three children — Aaliyah, 6, Laianah, 4 and Trey, 3 — in petrol and set them alight before killing himself.

The shirt attracted criticism from the Women's Domestic Violence Council WA, whose chief executive officer Angela Hartwig said material of that nature should be banned from being sold in Australia.

"I was totally shocked and outraged to think in this day and age messages like that are still being touted out there," she said.

"I mean, this is a blatant hate crime message.

"If we're going to tackle the root causes of violence against women, this sort of message on a t-shirt is totally unhelpful."

Domestic violence is over-represented in Mandurah's Peel region according to WA Police statistics.

In 2016, the Peel region made up about 5 per cent of WA's population, yet accounted for more than 12 per cent of all reported domestic violence incidents across the state.

Owner says t-shirt 'sold out'

The store's owner said the term "wife basher" was simply a colloquial way to refer to Swan and Emu Export beer.

"Look up the Macquarie [Dictionary] definition of wife basher," Krazy Teez proprietor Anthony Hiscox said.

He said the shirt was one of many that he sold.

"There's lots of different shirts that say lots of different things right throughout the shop and we print custom one-offs for people," he said.

Krazy Teez sells a number of shirts with one-line jokes, as well as popular brands and slogans. ( ABC News: Rebecca Trigger )

When asked whether the wife basher shirt was a custom, one-off shirt, he said he was unsure.

Ms Hartwig said it was wrong to write off the t-shirt as a joke.

"That's how it starts — 'oh, it was only a joke' — that's how sexism started," she said.

"Then it leads to disrespect, then it leads to the pack mentality of 'well we can all do this because its somehow OK'.

"Selling this sort of t-shirt is not a fashion statement, it's a disgrace."

Family violence advocate Angela Hartwig said the t-shirt was a disgrace. ( ABC News: Andrew O'Connor )

'Appalling messages' not approved by brewer

When the ABC visited the shop, the shirt was no longer displayed in the storefront.

Mr Hiscox said the store printed their own shirts on site, but he was unsure if the shirt in question was printed on premises or ordered in.

He was unaware of how many copies there were, but he said they had all sold out.

When asked what he thought about criticism of that type of message, he said people needed to "Google it" to find the definition and declined to comment further.

Lion, the brewer that makes Swan and Emu Export, said it did not approve the use of its brand in that way.

"Lion does not condone the appalling messages being conveyed, nor did Lion approve of its brands being used for these purposes," the company said in a statement.

"We will be writing to the business owner with a request to remove these items."

T-shirt gets mixed public reaction

Views in Mandurah were mixed, with some seeing the shirt merely as a joke, but most people the ABC spoke to did not think that message should be printed on a t-shirt.

Ash Smith, 21, said while he initially found the t-shirt funny, he did not tolerate violence against women.

Ash Smith, 21, says the idea of bashing women was "disgusting and wrong". ( ABC News: Rebecca Trigger )

"Wife basher — I think it means back in the day, people used to drink Emu Export and they used to get really drunk and then bash their wives. That's not really that funny though, is it," he said.

"I believe the shirt is a joke but when it comes to bashing women I believe it's really disgusting and wrong."

Georgia Glennon, also 21, said to some people it was probably a joke, but there would be people who had experienced domestic violence "who would not find that funny, I can assure you".

Georgia Glennon, 21, said people who had experienced domestic violence would not find the shirt funny. ( ABC News: Rebecca Trigger )

Retiree Joyce Glennon, 83, said she did not like the shirt and thought it was "unnecessary".

"I don't like it because I think there are enough things that are making us look a bit rough and ready, putting us down, and it's unnecessary. There's plenty of other things they could call it," she said.

"Wife bashing is not a very nice thing, is it? We're doing quite a bit to try and get rid of it."

Dalton Noronha, 18, said he would never wear a shirt with "wife basher" printed on it. ( ABC News: Rebecca Trigger )

Dalton Noronha, 18, said if he saw one of his mates wearing the shirt, he would tell them to take it off.

"I wouldn't wear it myself," he said.