Pub condemned for banning indigenous

Western Australia's hotels association has joined in the condemnation of a rural landlord who banned service to indigenous customers after her mobile phone was allegedly stolen.

Deborah Ovens, the publican of the Denver City Hotel in Coolgardie, placed a sign in the hotel that read: "No indigenous person will be served in this hotel until my apple i phone is returned that was stolen on 1st March 2014."

Several indigenous patrons were reportedly refused service via the sign, which went viral after being posted on Facebook.

After criticism from locals and on social media, Ms Ovens apologised on radio in Perth - but the WA branch of the Australian Hotels Association still joined in the criticism of what it said was an "isolated and intolerable incident".

"It's like someone is trapped in a time warp, in a swamp of the old Bayou of Mississippi in the 1920s," Australian Hotels Association (WA) chief executive Bradley Woods said.

"This incident highlights the fact that education around the issue of racial discrimination is still needed in 2014."