On 10 August 2025, Women Speak Tasmania met with concerned parents and community members to discuss the growing problem of gender ideology in schools and the influence of the lobby group Working It Out.
A detailed presentation was given on how the Department of Education, Children and Young People (DECYP) has embedded gender ideology throughout Tasmania’s education system.
Key Concerns Raised
A major concern raised was DECYP’s Respectful Relationships Resources. These are presented as programs designed to combat bullying and domestic violence, yet the material is saturated with gender ideology from kindergarten through Year 12. Parents were told that the content goes far beyond respectful relationships education, with no evidence or justification for introducing such concepts to children.
The meeting also highlighted DECYP’s Growing Up Program, which costs taxpayers around $2 million every year. Delivered by Family Planning Tasmania in primary schools, this program teaches children that boys can have vaginas, girls can have penises, and that gender is nothing more than a feeling. Parents were shocked to learn that these lessons are delivered without parental knowledge or consent. As many pointed out, there is nothing “respectful” about teaching ideology to young children behind their parents’ backs.
Evidence was also presented showing how DECYP promotes the Gender Unicorn and instructs staff to avoid sex-based language. Teachers are told to replace words such as “woman” with terms like “person with a uterus.”
Another deeply troubling practice is DECYP’s push for teachers to write gender “affirmation plans” for students. These plans can include social transition, body modifications and sexuality declarations. Parents are sidelined in the process, with training course descriptions showing that parental involvement is treated as secondary. Teachers, meanwhile, are denied the right to conscientiously object, creating serious ethical and legal concerns that appear to conflict with Tasmania’s own education and welfare laws.
Parents were also shown DECYP endorsed “All Identities” billboards displayed in Tasmanian schools. While these messages appear inclusive on the surface, the breadth of what is being endorsed risks normalising maladaptive and harmful behaviours, some of which fall well outside accepted social norms.
While similar issues have sparked public debate in other states, Tasmania’s politicians and media remain silent. In Victoria, Premier Jacinta Allan was recently grilled by journalists about 5-year-olds being taught they might not be a “good fit” for their bodies. Yet in Tasmania, these ideas have been in schools since 2015. Despite parents repeatedly raising concerns, their questions are ignored, opposition MPs stay quiet, and not a single “constituent’s question” has reached Parliament.
Why This Matters
By the end of the meeting, parents expressed shock and alarm at the extent of ideological content in Tasmanian schools. They were deeply concerned about the lack of transparency, the sidelining of parental rights, and the pressure placed on teachers to comply.
A Call to Action
Some of the ideas floated by attendees included banning unqualified third-party providers from delivering sex education in schools, and demanding full transparency from DECYP and elected representatives about what is being taught to children.
Parents and community members also urged one another to write to their MPs and local representatives so that these concerns can no longer be ignored in Parliament.
Finally, there was strong support for backing campaigns that resist ideological capture and push for the restoration of evidence-based education that safeguards children.
Conclusion
Children in Tasmania deserve an evidence-based education that protects their wellbeing. They should not be used as testing grounds for radical social experiments. Women Speak Tasmania will continue to shine a light on what is happening in schools and push for reforms that put the needs of children first.