Our coalition of independent feminist organisations has submitted its shadow report to the United Nations Human Rights Council as part of Australia’s fourth Universal Periodic Review (UPR). In doing so we warn that recent laws and policies are undermining women’s sex-based rights, breaching obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
While we acknowledge and support efforts by Australian governments to advance reproductive rights, reduce violence against women, and support Indigenous and migrant women, we are alarmed that recent laws and policy shifts—particularly those that prioritise gender identity over biological sex—have severely undermined the protections guaranteed to women and girls under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Rather than progressing women’s rights, we are witnessing a reversal of core legal protections that were hard-won over decades of feminist advocacy.
One of our gravest concerns is the legal uncertainty created by gender self-identification laws. These have stripped away the clarity that women need to know whether our rights still exist in practice. Despite acknowledging these concerns, neither the government nor the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has taken steps to resolve the contradictions in law. This has forced individual women into costly, emotionally draining legal battles—just to find out if we are still protected. As a result, women can no longer rely on the law to ensure safety and fairness in critical areas like shelters, prisons, hospital wards, sports, and online spaces.
We are especially worried about the impact of these changes on women in vulnerable situations—women in detention, in crisis accommodation, or recovering from male violence. We have already seen cases where male-born individuals who self-identify as women have been housed in female prisons, despite objections from traumatised female inmates. In rape crisis centres and domestic violence shelters, service providers are unsure if they are even allowed to operate women-only spaces anymore. These are not just abstract policy debates—they affect the real, daily safety and dignity of women who have nowhere else to turn.
Another major issue we raise is the erosion of sex-based data. When gender identity overrides biological sex in official records, it becomes almost impossible to accurately measure violence against women and girls. This compromises the evidence base that informs our laws, services, and funding decisions. It also means the true scale of male violence against women is being obscured. We believe Australia is failing its international obligations by allowing this to happen.
We have seen the AHRC deny sex-based exemptions to women’s groups, including lesbian-only spaces, and instead uphold policies that exclude female-born women who organise around shared sex-based experiences. This is not what CEDAW intended. Women’s rights, including our right to gather, speak, and organise on the basis of sex, must be restored.
In schools, gender ideology is now being taught. Instead of challenging traditional gender stereotypes, children are being encouraged to interpret gender non-conforming behaviour—like liking certain toys or clothes—as a sign they are ‘really’ the opposite sex. This risks reinforcing, not dismantling, harmful stereotypes and can lead to unnecessary and irreversible medical interventions. We need an urgent review of how gender identity is being presented in education settings, especially to young children.
On the issues of prostitution and surrogacy, Australia is ignoring the systemic exploitation of women. The decriminalisation of prostitution in some states, along with policies that shield pimps and brothel owners, has created environments where abuse and trafficking flourish. Similarly, despite laws banning commercial surrogacy, Australian parents continue to access overseas markets that exploit poor and vulnerable women. We believe it’s time to adopt the Nordic model—criminalising buyers and profiteers while supporting women to exit—and to ban all forms of surrogacy, domestic and international.
We are also appalled by how legislation redefining sex and gender has been passed across the country with little or no consultation with women. In state after state, LGBTQIA+ organisations were consulted extensively, while feminist and women’s groups were sidelined. In some cases, we were only shown the bills after they were already drafted, with no time or opportunity to respond meaningfully. This is a clear violation of our right to participate in political life and shape the laws that directly affect us.
Perhaps most troubling is the culture of censorship that now surrounds this issue. When a bill was introduced in the Senate to define biological sex under the Sex Discrimination Act, the government blocked it from even being read—a move that breaks with basic parliamentary norms. Many women now fear speaking publicly or organising politically around sex-based rights, as vague hate speech laws have been used to silence legitimate debate. It is no exaggeration to say that our freedom of expression is under threat.
In sport, women and girls are being displaced from competitions by male-bodied athletes who identify as female. Despite a legal exemption in the Sex Discrimination Act that permits female-only sport where males have a competitive advantage, sporting bodies have been actively discouraged from applying it. Meanwhile, new government policies that conflate “women” with “gender diverse people” in sports governance reduce the opportunities for actual women to lead and participate in decision-making. This must change.
Finally, the Australian Government allowed just 21 days for public feedback on its most recent CEDAW report. This shows a lack of seriousness about genuine democratic consultation, especially when the voices of women are most needed.
We stand by our submission to the UN Human Rights Council and reaffirm our coalition’s resolve to fight for legal clarity, genuine consultation, and the restoration of women’s rights at every level.