In Australia it is becoming increasingly difficult to shoot photos in public spaces and national parks without getting harassed or asked to buy a permit. In Bondi for example you now have to buy a $255 permit to shoot commercially around the beach. It is becoming obvious that councils are using the permits to make money and using scare tactics (pedophiles/terrorists) as an excuse…

Arts Freedom Australia is a group of photographers that has formed to fight back against this bureaucratic invasion.

AFA has recently completed a comparative study of legislation and policies imposed on photographers and film-makers within Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States of America. The result of this study clearly demonstrates that the rights of Australian photographers and film-makers are being seriously affected by a myriad of rules and regulations imposing prohibitive restrictions, high fees, and bureaucratic application protocols. By comparison, America’s national parks allow photography in all places where the public can access. What a refreshingly common sense approach – but it seems the Aussie bureaucrats are too greedy to allow for common sense.

To raise publicity of the issues, the AFA had a rally in the centre of Sydney and over a thousand photographers turned up, including some very well known Australian photographers and plenty of other wacky characters…