Good Things festival accused of ignoring groping, upskirting and harassment reports

The organisers of alternative music festival Good Things have been accused of ignoring allegations of men groping women, filming up women’s skirts and abusing those who turned down their advances at events around the country.

The festival, headlined by Korn, Violent Femmes and Electric Callboy, toured major cities over the weekend, playing Melbourne on Friday, Sydney on Saturday and Brisbane on Sunday.

The Good Things festival, headlined by Korn, Violent Femmes and Electric Callboy, toured major cities over the weekend.

Victims and witnesses spoke out about their experiences on social media in posts shared by advocacy group What Were You Wearing. Other reports seen by this masthead included details of non-consensual filming, sexual assault and verbal abuse.

“Some creep was filming up skirts in the mosh,” wrote one attendee on a chat app made for the festival. Another said they “saw someone get SA [sexually assaulted] near the toilet ... luckily someone else stepped in”.

One attendee claimed a man “tried to pull my pants down during Korn”. Another said she was ambushed by a man while trying to leave the portaloo.

An attendee, who wished to remain anonymous, shared an official email complaint to organisers that included claims of witnessing “multiple men filming up girls skirts the whole day, especially during Korn and Electric Callboy” and seeing people being groped.

On TikTok, a woman wrote that a man called her “all sorts of colourful names because I turned down his advances, called me a c-m bucket and a sl-t ... not one person around me stood up for me”.

In a statement published on Monday evening, What Were You Wearing said victims who had spoken out on social media about their experiences of sexual violence and harassment at the Good Things Festival had their accounts blocked, or comments deleted or ignored.

“In addition to this, once they [Good Things Festival] became aware of these incidents, they left a comment about what patrons should do, rather than a detailed post,” the WWYW statement read.

In the comment – no longer visible, as comments on the post have been disabled – Good Things acknowledged the complaints and said they were being taken seriously.

“Until very recently, Good Things Festival were unaware of any reported sexual misconduct,” the comment read.

“Good Things Festival takes all reports of sexual assault and harassment extremely seriously. The safety and well-being of our patrons is our top priority.”

On Wednesday, Victoria Police confirmed detectives from the Melbourne Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Investigation Team were investigating following three separate reports of sexual assault at the festival in Flemington on December 6.

Queensland Police said they had received no reports of sexual assaults or misconduct from the festival, while NSW Police said no reports of sexual assault had been made to the local command.

Festival organisers encouraged anyone who had experienced or witnessed sexual misconduct to make reports to police.

What Were You Wearing founder Sarah Williams said the organisation was initially contacted by “one or two” attendees seeking support after their experiences at the festival.

“Which is pretty standard, as devastating as that sounds,” Williams said.

Further reporting on TikTok, from The Breaking Through Podcast, alerted Williams to other festival goers with similar experiences.

“That raised extreme red flags for me, so I started looking into it more and using our platform,” she said.

Since her post condemning the festival’s response, Williams said many more women had come forward saying their comments had been removed from the festival’s social media posts.

In a statement provided to this masthead, Good Things Festival denounced “any and all forms of sexual harassment, misconduct, abuse and assault”.

“Anyone who condones or engages with these abhorrent behaviours is not welcome at our events. The festival should be a joyous, fun and safe escape for all who attend, without exception.”

Good Things did not comment on disabling or removing comments on their Instagram account.

The festival’s app, which they trialled this year, had a function designed to give attendees a “direct line to event staff in the event you experience antisocial behaviour or feel unsafe”. It was understood organisers received no complaints through this channel.

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