Australians do give a XXXX over Ramsay's kitchen expletives

As the country that taught the cricketing world how to sledge, Australia has not been known for its sensitivity to bad language. Swearing, at least among friends or colleagues, is part of the everyday vernacular. But the country seems to be losing its sense of humour over the expletive-filled outbursts of Gordon Ramsay on his reality television shows which are being shown on prime time TV. Yesterday Australia's Catholic church became the latest to complain, saying that the chef's shows should be taken off air or moved to a later time slot.

Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares and Hell's Kitchen are broadcast three nights a week in Australia at 8.30pm and 9.30pm, when many children have yet to go to bed. One episode recently featured the Michelin-starred chef using the F word more than 80 times and the C word twice. The bad language has already prompted calls for the country's broadcasting code of conduct to be reviewed. "There can be no excuse for vilification of this sort. We conclude that this episode should never have been aired on Australian television," the church in the southern city of Adelaide said in a submission to a parliamentary inquiry which is investigating standards in television.

Schools and parents groups have also lodged complaints, with the principal of one Melbourne school advising parents to ban their young children from watching them. Lesley McCarthy of Flemington Primary School said bad language in the playground had increased since the British chef's shows have been showing on TV. "It's a really big concern," she said. "If the children see one of their heroes in the media swearing, then they think it's OK. It's the same with our football stars."

Australia's Channel Nine is broadcasting the programmes and says it has no plans to move them to a later time slot. Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares has become the station's number one hit. A bi-partisan parliamentary inquiry is hearing evidence on the frequency and use of swearing on Australian television and whether tighter regulation is needed. Currently, swearing is permitted on Australian TV if it is deemed important to a storyline.

Ramsay, who is due to open a restaurant in Melbourne at the end of the year, has already declared that he is scaling back his use of swearing in the kitchen and encouraging his staff to do so too. He also has his supporters in Australia. The New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties said any attempts to interfere with the programmes would be a restriction of free speech. "Not everyone is offended by coarse language," the council said in its submission to the inquiry.