Australian punk provocateurs Private Function have announced they’re calling it quits, confirming their split with a typically irreverent message posted to social media on Christmas Day.
“Because you’ve all been such naughty children this year you’re all getting the present you deserve… We’re breaking up lol,” the band wrote, signing off with “PF STILL ON TOP.”
The post confirmed a final run of shows in 2026, which includes their appearance at Froth & Fury festival and a national tour with Viagra Boys, which will mark the last chance for fans to catch the group live around the country.
“The last nine years have been the best time of all our lives,” the band continued. “We’ve accomplished more than we ever thought possible. And it’s all because of you helping us out.”
Formed in Melbourne, Private Function built a reputation as one of Australia’s most unpredictable and entertaining live acts, equal parts blistering punk band and performance-art pranksters. Their shows became infamous for their sheer physicality, confrontational humour and anything-goes ethos, while their releases often blurred the line between satire, commentary and outright absurdism.
That streak was evident from the start. Their 2016 debut EP Six Smokin’ Songs arrived with cover art depicting Bryan Curtis, the face of Australia’s anti-smoking campaign, seemingly revived by the band’s music — a move that set the tone for a career defined by deliberate provocation.
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A year later, they released “I Wish Australia Had Its Guns Again”, a biting satirical take on US gun laws that quickly became a live favourite and later appeared in Firebite, the vampire drama created by Warwick Thornton.
Their debut album St. Anger followed in 2019, lifting both its name and visual language from St. Anger — another deliberate poke at rock orthodoxy. The band’s second album, Whose Line Is It Anyway?, landed in 2020 and debuted at No. 9 on the ARIA Charts, bolstered by one of their most infamous gimmicks: a “Mystery Bag” vinyl edition rumoured to contain plastic bags of speed pressed inside the clear records.
Line-up changes followed in the years after, including the departure of founding member Joe Hansen in 2021. Through it all, Private Function only leaned further into their reputation for excess and spectacle.
Their 2023 album 370HSSV 0773H arrived via their own Still On Top Records and debuted at No. 11 nationally. The release was accompanied by a government-approved scratchcard album cover, with one lucky fan winning cash, a test pressing and a permanent spot on future pressings of the record. Later pressings included a gold vinyl variant filled with the band members’ urine… limited to just 50 copies.
By 2025, the band had escalated once again with ¯\(ツ)/¯, which featured a scratch’n’sniff vinyl scented to resemble Gwyneth Paltrow’s vagina, proving there were still few lines they weren’t willing to cross.
Now, with their breakup confirmed and a final tour looming, Private Function’s legacy feels less about shock value and more about commitment — to the joke, to the spectacle, and to punk as a communal release valve.
In an era where chaos is often airbrushed for the algorithm, Private Function remained proudly unmanageable ’til the end.
