Tag: 2025
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Minister Gallagher Must Listen to Women as Stakeholders in Women’s Rights
During Senate Question Time, Senator Pauline Hanson pressed the Minister for Women, Katy Gallagher, on the impact of amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act (SDA). Senator Hanson highlighted how the 2013 Gillard Government’s changes—replacing biological definitions with gender identity—have created a legal minefield, eroding protections for women in sport, services, and female-only spaces. Minister Gallagher’s…
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Restoration of Sexed-Based Protections and Rights for Women and Girls – Letter to Katy Gallagher
Dear Minister Gallagher, Re: Female stakeholders demand urgent restoration of sexed-based protections and rights for women and girls in Australia We write as a coalition of independent feminist organisations who are direct and essential stakeholders in all matters impacting the rights, representation, and realities of us in Australia. Our coalition represents a cross-section of advocacy…
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One Nation Senators Sign Women’s Pledge Australia
Women Speak Tasmania today joined Senators from One Nation outside Federal Parliament as they signed on to Women’s Pledge Australia, a national initiative calling on elected representatives to commit to protecting women’s sex-based rights. Dr Elizabeth Caballero from WST stood alongside Senators Malcolm Roberts and Tyron Whitten as they publicly pledged their support. One Nation…
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Women Speak Tasmania Congratulates Elected Members and Candidates Committing to Women’s Pledge Australia
Women Speak Tasmania (WST) are here today in Canberra with One Nation Senators for their signing of the Women’s Pledge Australia. WST congratulates all elected members of Local, State and Federal Governments and election candidates for committing to Women’s Pledge Australia. Many Women’s organisations from across the country have long been campaigning for amendments to…
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Who Decides What Children Are Taught? The Growing Up Program and Parental Rights in Tasmania
In recent months, a debate has emerged in Tasmania about what primary-school children are being taught regarding bodies, relationships, and gender. At the centre of the discussion is the state’s “Growing Up Program” (GUP), a relationships and protective-behaviours curriculum delivered in many primary schools. The issue gained wider attention after One Nation Senator Pauline Hanson…
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When Sex Lost Its Meaning: How the 2013 Amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act Weakened Women’s Rights
In 1984, Australia passed the Sex Discrimination Act, a landmark piece of legislation that recognised the reality of sex and sought to protect women against discrimination on the basis of being female. It acknowledged pregnancy, family responsibilities, and the need for single-sex provisions in areas such as sport and women’s services. But nearly thirty years…
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Speaking Truth About the Impacts of Sex Self-ID: A Rebuttal to 2018 Claims
In 2018, several Tasmanian women’s organisations publicly criticised Women Speak Tasmania (WST) for warning that proposed amendments to the Justice and Related Legislation (Marriage Amendments) Bill 2018—which introduced sex self-identification into Tasmanian law—would erode women’s rights and compromise safeguarding. At the time, these organisations dismissed our concerns as “ideological” and “discriminatory,” insisting that recognising gender…
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AAWAA – Local Action Interview with Isla MacGregor
AAWAA brings to you Local Action — interviews with women Getting It Done across Australia. In this edition of Local Action, we talk to Isla MacGregor. Isla has been fighting the good fight for human rights for decades. She was abruptly dragged into this new wave of feminist activism and brings to it a wealth…
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Questions Regarding Government Probity in the Sponsorship of the AusPATH Conference — Letter to the Attorney-General
Letter sent to Tasmania Attorney General Guy Barnett on 22 August 2025 Women Speak Tasmania wrote to Attorney-General Guy Barnett to express concern about the Tasmanian Government’s sponsorship of the Australian Professional Association for Trans Health (AusPATH) National Conference in Hobart in November 2025. We noted that the conference is framed around “pushing back” against…