The sign which was erected outside a Coolgardie pub.

A Coolgardie publican has defended putting up a poster barring service to indigenous people after her mobile phone was allegedly stolen.

Deborah Ovens, publican of the Denver City Hotel on Bayley Street in Coolgardie, said she put the sign up on the wall of her pub after her iPhone was stolen from the pub on March 1.

The sign reads: "No indigenous person will be served in this hotel until my apple i phone is returned that was stolen on 1st March 2014."

The sign names the person Ms Ovens believes stole her phone.


She said there was "no issue" with the sign, which has gone viral across Facebook with 833 shares and 267 comments.

"I just put that up to try and get my phone back," she said.

"You just get so angry when you open up to the community and then you get your property stolen."

She said several indigenous customers entered the hotel while the poster was up.

"They came in, we spoke about it, and they left."

"You know, they don't always have the money to pay for anything anyway.

"It's all dealt with now, the issue is over, the sign is down because I got a replacement phone."

Talkback caller 'Lisa' told Radio 6PR that her nephew, an Aboriginal man working in the mining industry, was refused service when he went into the pub with a group of non-Aboriginal work friends.

"We went up to the bar and they wouldn't serve him, he asked why not and they just pointed to the sign," she said.

"He couldn't believe it, he was really shocked.

"It's assuming that all Aboriginal people know each other and my nephew has no idea who the person is.

"He's been for a drink there before, but as soon as they pointed to the sign he and his work friends left and went to another pub."

Aboriginal Legal Service of WA CEO Dennis Eggington said he found the poster offensive and highly discriminatory.

"This sort of thing, a poster like that, is disgraceful," he said.

"These sorts of things in the past have led to a range of things like vigilante groups going out, it's not on.

"I'm sure there are other Aboriginal people who use the pub and if she turned them away I'd think it would take away a fair bit of her revenue.

"I would think we've moved on in society since the days where we take it out on a whole group of people.

"She runs the risk now of offending lots of aboriginal people in Coolgardie... I can't understand why you would do something so stupid."

Australian Hoteliers Association CEO Bradley Woods said he encouraged authorities to prosecute the business to the full extent of the law.

"It's not often I'm lost for words but this is one time... my mind struggles to understand the stupidity in this.

"It's like someone is trapped in a time warp, in the bayou in 1920s Mississippi.

"It's outrageous, it's unacceptable and this is something the industry won't tolerate, it's reprehensible."