The lounge, created by Kirsha Kaechele, the wife of museum founder David Walsh, could be closed if the complainant is successful.

The complainant, NSW man Jason Lau, representing himself in the hearing, visited the museum in April 2023 to find he was denied entry into the Ladies Lounge, which features art from Picasso and Sidney Nolan.

“I visited Mona, paid $35, on the expectation that I would have access to the museum, and I was quite surprised when I was told that I would not be able to see one exhibition, the Ladies Lounge,” Lau told the hearing, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

“Anyone who buys a ticket would expect a fair provision of goods and services.”

Lau is seeking to have the lounge closed or have men be allowed to enter. Alternatively, have two different tickets be offered: a lower-cost ticket for men who would not be allowed to enter the lounge and a higher-priced one for women who would be able to enter.

According to The Sydney Morning Herald, Mona’s counsel, Catherine Scott, had agreed that the Lounge was discriminatory but that that was the point of the women-only lounge. The lounge was created to provide equal opportunity for a disadvantaged group who had been excluded from many spaces.

Scott also argued that Lau being denied access to the Lounge meant that he was experiencing the intent of the work and, therefore, not missing out on any part of MONA.

“[It] presented the opportunity to make a space for the gathering of women, and when I say women, what I mean is anyone who identifies as a woman,” Kaechele said at the hearing.

When asked about what “opportunity” was being presented by the Ladies Lounge by deputy president of the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Richard Grueber, Kaechele replied: “The opportunity to gather in peace as women without men, the opportunity to relish the exclusion of men. It’s only because we don’t hold power that we can do this … which gives the work its humour. If not, it would be cruel.”

A decision has not yet been made.