Bum bags, sneakers and mullets: Eshay culture in Queensland exposed

If you’ve been to a train station, shopping centre or the Queen Street Mall recently, chances are you’ve come across an eshay. So who are they and why are they obsessed with sneakers and bum bags?

Many Queenslanders who have been to a train station, shopping centre or in Queen Street Mall are likely to have come across an eshay.

Often sporting bum bags, polo shirts, mullets, tracksuit pants and sneakers, eshays are often groups of young men associated with drug-dealing, gang violence and harassment.

People belonging to the youth subculture tend to wear sportswear labels including Adidas, Fila, Nike TNs and Lacoste.

The generally male youth subculture is the Australian equivalent of the British chavs or roadmen.

The term eshay originates from pig Latin for the word “sesh” while the term “adlay” is pig Latin for lad.

Eshays often carry bum bags and wear Nike TNs. Picture: A Current Affair.

Other words in eshay’s vocabulary include “eetswa” which means “sweet” and “illchay” which means “chill”.

The culture originated some time in the 2000s when Australian rap and drill music genres became popular in Sydney’s low-income housing estates.

South East Queensland has a number of groups that bear many of the hallmarks of eshay culture, with Brisbane’s Northside and Southside gangs having been linked to car theft and break and enters.

The groups have been known to highlight their law-breaking on TikTok and Instagram.

Brisbane’s Northside gang.

Sunshine Coast Criminal Investigation Branch officer-in-charge Craig Mansfield said the Northside Gang remained a “haphazard” problem, predominantly for car thefts north of Brisbane.

He said there were youths believed to be “tapping into” the Northside Gang.

“We still have little punks but it’s mainly that Northside Gang who come up, but there’s ones from Logan, the Gold Coast, Ipswich, Woodridge who come up,” he said.

Some of the South East Queensland’s gangs that incorporated eshay culture include:

Northside Gang

The Brisbane juvenile gang gained public attention after they were found to be brazenly splashing photos and videos of high-speed joy rides, wads of cash, illicit drugs and violence across social media.

Northside gang

Southside Gang

Based in Logan and southern Brisbane, the Southside Gang is a rival gang to the Northside Gang. Youths involved in this group have also shared their illicit lifestyles on social media from car thefts to violence.

Southside Gang

Swish Gang

Associated with Brisbane’s Northside, known to have disagreements with the Southside Drillas.

Southside Drillas

Youth group based in Brisbane’s Southside, rivals of Swish Gang.