Women Speak Tasmania

Tag: 2026

  • AHRC to Review Deficient Exemption Guidelines – Email to Leanne Smith

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    A member of the public, A. Johnsen, has followed up with the Australian Human Rights Commission Chief Executive Leanne Smith after the Commission’s national “The Answer Is Human Rights” seminar series. At events in Perth, Adelaide, and Sydney in June 2026, AHRC representatives directed women seeking to protect female-only spaces to apply for case-by-case exemptions…

  • ABC Bias in Coverage of Women’s Rights and Free Speech Issues – Email to Hugh Marks

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    Email sent to Hugh Marks on 21 June 2026 Dear Mr Marks, I’ve just sent another complaint to Media Watch and Linton Besser (see below) about ABC’s ever more embarrassing bias. I’ve long given up on ever expecting any meaningful response from ABC’s Complaints system, but I have been impressed with Linton Besser’s genuine responses…

  • ABC’s Bias is Shameful – Email to Media Watch

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    Email sent to Linton Besser and Media Watch on 21 June 2026 Dear Linton, ABC truly has no shame. I’m coming to the conclusion there needs to be a serious spill and fill, and urgently.  Rachael Baxendale has just published this article “ABC rejects Sall Grover’s opinion piece on women’s sex-based rights” in the Australian…

  • Why Transparency Matters in Relationships and Sexuality Education

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    Since last year, Women Speak Tasmania has been receiving information from concerned parents about the delivery of Relationships and Sexuality Education programs in Tasmanian government schools. This includes the Respectful Relationships and Consent Education program, as well as the Growing Up Program delivered by Family Planning Tasmania. Parents have raised consistent concerns about limited transparency,…

  • The Resistance Lives On: Women’s Sticker Actions Across Australia

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    From library books and pubs in WA to political offices and streets in Hobart — ordinary women are making their voices heard. During the last few months, Women Speak Tasmania has been receiving photos from women (and supporters) across the country who have been carrying out their own independent sticker actions. From WA to NSW,…

  • Detailed Response to the TLRI Report on Legal Recognition of Sex and Gender 2020

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    In June 2020 the Tasmanian Law Reform Institute released its Final Report No. 31 on Legal Recognition of Sex and Gender. The report reviewed the 2019 changes to birth certificate laws that introduced self-identification of gender and concluded that it could identify no significant negative impacts from those changes. Women Speak Tasmania did not agree.…

  • Women’s Right to Freedom of Political Opinion Hearing at TASCAT

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    Women Speak Tasmania will tomorrow be presenting their submissions at TASCAT over our appeal against the rejection by the Anti-Discrimination Commission of our complaint of discrimination by Libraries Tasmania for the cancellation of our room bookings. Libraries Tasmania had cancelled meeting room bookings by WST at which discussions were to be held on various political,…

  • AHPRA in the Senate Spotlight: Senator Henderson Grills CEO Over Treatment of Drs Amos and Spencer

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    Australia’s peak health regulator, AHPRA, is facing growing parliamentary scrutiny after Senator Sarah Henderson directly challenged CEO Justin Untersteiner during recent Senate Estimates hearings. In the exchange, Senator Henderson questioned whether AHPRA is truly protecting patients — or policing doctors who raise legitimate concerns about gender-affirming care for children. The Cases That Sparked the Questions…

  • Biological Reality is Not Cruelty

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    Leonie Crosse’s letter (“‘Cruel’ law changes will hurt all women”) presents a misleading view of proposals to strengthen recognition of biological sex in anti-discrimination law. Recognising sex as a material reality based on biology does not weaken women’s protections — it restores them. Single-sex spaces, services and sports exist because of physical differences and male-pattern…

  • Drag Queen Storytime and The Safeguarding Question

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    While researching lawfare in Australia, I came across the long-running legal battle involving Lyle Shelton. In 2020, Shelton publicly criticised a Drag Queen Storytime event at a Brisbane City Council library. He described the performers — Johnny Valkyrie (known as “Queeny”) and Dwayne Hill (who performs as Diamond Good-Rim in adult shows) — as “dangerous…