Representatives from Women Speak Tasmania and LGB Alliance Australia met today with Michael Ferguson MP, Member for Bass, to discuss the urgent need to add biological sex as a protected attribute in Tasmania’s Anti-Discrimination Act 1998.
The delegation presented Mr Ferguson with a policy brief and a collection of Tasmanians’ testimonies detailing the harms caused by the current lack of clear sex-based protections.
Women Speak Tasmania spokesperson Dr Elizabeth Caballero said the meeting was a constructive and important step toward restoring legal clarity for women and girls.
“Michael Ferguson showed genuine willingness to engage on this issue. We thank him for taking the time to listen to Tasmanians’ lived experiences. Tasmania’s law protects gender identity but does not clearly protect biological sex. This creates real risks for women’s single-sex spaces, sports, services and data collection. Adding sex — defined as biological male or female — is a simple, fair reform that protects everyone,” Dr Caballero said.
The group emphasised that explicit recognition of biological sex would safeguard women’s rights while maintaining existing protections for other groups.
Women Speak Tasmania continues to call on all Tasmanian MPs to support this amendment so that single-sex provisions for women and girls remain lawful and workable.
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Media Contact:
Dr Elizabeth Caballero
President, Women Speak Tasmania