The Commissioner of Taxation distributed an AI-generated action figure meme through an internal communication channel, depicting supporters of the Collingwood AFL football club as obese, sloppy, and missing teeth. The meme, sent to all 20,000 employees at the Australian Taxation Office, was described by the Commissioner as “not a bad likeness.”
Commissioner Rob Heferen, a known Collingwood supporter, included the meme in his weekly email to staff called “Commish Connect,” which is a series of messages discussing general taxation news and updates for the agency, along with frequent mentions of sport-related topics.
On April 17, Heferen spoke about watching Collingwood play Sydney without further comment. The following week, he thanked a supporter of the Parramatta Eels NRL team who had sent him the image of a Collingwood supporter action figure with a protruding belly, messy hair, missing teeth, and tattoos. Heferen commented that it was “not a bad likeness.”
The stereotype of Collingwood fans being toothless and rough has been prevalent. Antoun Issa, a former Guardian Australia journalist, noted in 2023 that responses to his Magpies support often included these descriptors, suggesting a longstanding stigma rooted in historic working-class depictions.
The email originated after an anonymous user anonymously filed a Right to Know request to obtain the communication from the office. As of now, there has been one complaint and one other response from staff concerning the email, according to an ATO spokesperson. The spokesperson confirmed that Commissioner Heferen personally replied to the complaint and that one other inquiry through an internal channel has received a response.
In the current 2025 AFL season, Collingwood sits atop the AFL ladder. The former complainant, known by the pseudonym “Collingwood Fan,” has not made any other requests under their account since filing the original request that resulted in the release of this email. The practice of creating such memes using image-generating AI was popular on social media at the time of the incident.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/jul/09/ato-commissioner-sent-ai-meme-mocking-collingwood-afl-supporters-to-all-20000-staff
