On 7 October 2025, during Senate Estimates (Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee), Australia’s Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Dr Anna Cody, was again pressed on women’s sex-based rights. What unfolded revealed a Commissioner unwilling – or unable – to acknowledge biological sex, even when asked the simplest of questions.
First, in questioning by Senator Malcolm Roberts, Dr Cody struggled to give straight answers about chromosomes, sex, and the law. She repeatedly insisted she was “not a scientist” and declined to say whether someone born male with XY chromosomes remains male. Instead, she framed the matter as “complex” and suggested the law, not biology, defines who can access women’s spaces.
Later, Senator Claire Chandler challenged Dr Cody on her recent National Press Club speech, in which she had claimed “we are not one version of women.” Senator Chandler pressed her: “Last I checked, a woman is an adult human female with XX chromosomes. So what did you mean?”
Dr Cody’s response was telling. She listed “culturally, racially marginalised women, First Nations women, women with disability, lesbians, trans women, [and] non-binary” as all being “versions of women.” When asked plainly if this meant biological males can be women, she dismissed the term “biological male” altogether: “I don’t understand the term biological men.”
When Senator Chandler asked whether the Sex Discrimination Act protects the rights of women on the basis of their sex, Dr Cody gave evasive answers. She repeatedly refused to use the term “biological females,” insisting only that the Act “uses the language of men and women.” Pressed further, she admitted: “It does not use the language of biological females.”
Perhaps most concerning, when asked about the case of a male paedophile now housed in a Victorian women’s prison, Dr Cody confirmed: “The Sex Discrimination Act includes trans women within it. So the person … is a trans woman.”
Why This Matters
The Commissioner’s role is to uphold protections against sex discrimination. Yet Dr Cody avoids acknowledging the material reality of biological sex, even when asked directly by senators. Instead, she substitutes ideological language, erasing the category of “female” from the very law designed to protect women.
This matters for every woman in Australia. If the Commissioner cannot or will not say that women are adult human females, and that female-only spaces and protections exist for safety, dignity, and equality, then the law itself is being hollowed out.
Australian women deserve clarity, not obfuscation. Women’s rights cannot be defended if the very concept of “woman” is blurred beyond recognition.