Heated moment Grace Tame erupts at ‘absolute scumbag’ photographer while dining at a Sydney café

Grace Tame has been captured on video erupting at a photographer for taking her picture while she dined at a trendy eatery. 

The former Australian of the Year was sitting outside Gertrude & Alice Café Bookstore in the beachside Sydney suburb of Bondi on Thursday, when professional paparazzi set up their cameras and began snapping away.

An infuriated Tame confronted the photographers and asked: ‘What are you doing? Why are you taking pictures of me? I’m not working right now.

‘Do you understand I’m an advocate for survivors of child sexual abuse? I’m not a media figure for no reason.

‘The whole point of what I do is to try and call out this sort of abuse of somebody’s privacy and agency. You’re just recreating that dynamic.’

One of the photographers responded by saying, ‘You are in a public place. Do you know what public means?’

Customers and staff who noticed the commotion stepped in to intervene and demanded the photographers leave, to which they refused.

‘I didn’t choose to be in the public eye,’ Tame continued. 

‘I am in a public place but are you taking photos of anybody else here?

‘This is not right, what you’re doing.’

The activist then declared, ‘I am calling the police’ and reported the encounter over the phone.

Tame later took to Instagram to vent about the heated exchange.

‘Again. Absolute scumbags, taking pictures of me and my colleague without our permission,’ she wrote.

‘I’m an advocate for survivors of abuse, not a pop star. Show some decency and respect. If not for me, then for yourselves. 

‘Just because I’m in a public place, doesn’t mean you’re entitled to any piece of me or anyone else. I’ve reported you and your partner to police.

‘After repeated requests from both myself, fellow café patrons, and the owner of the premises, both of these ‘men’ refused to leave. Instead they continued filming. 

‘I’m sure they’re delighted with the images of me that they captured while I was justifiably giving them a serve for their abhorrent actions, but I’m not ashamed of my anger, The shame lies solely with them.’

Tame (pictured) is a former Australian of the Year

However, some online believed that the photographers had the right to film Tame.

‘She’s in a public place, complaining about being photographed,’ one said.

Another wrote: ‘Police won’t do anything. It’s perfectly legal to film in public.’

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Grace Tame for further comment.