Tag: free speech
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Lawfare in Australia: Consequences for Gender-Critical Beliefs
Understanding the Conflict Between Gender Ideology and Gender-Critical Views In recent years, Australia has witnessed a growing number of complaints, tribunal proceedings, workplace disputes, regulatory actions, and court cases involving conflict between gender ideology and gender-critical beliefs. These disputes are not simply disagreements about personal identity. They raise broader questions about how society defines sex,…
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Two Library Cancellations – Part 2: The Legal Response
In Part 1, we outlined the cancellation of two community forums booked at Libraries Tasmania venues in Burnie (March 2024) and Devonport (April 2025). This second part examines the formal complaints that followed and the current legal proceedings before TASCAT. Complaints to the Anti-Discrimination Commissioner Following each cancellation, Women Speak Tasmania lodged formal complaints with…
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Two Library Cancellations – Part 1: What Happened?
Over the last two years, Women Speak Tasmania has faced the cancellation of two community forums by Libraries Tasmania after bookings had already been confirmed and publicly advertised. Both events concerned public policy, women’s rights, and laws affecting sex-based rights and protections. In both cases, the forums were ultimately relocated and held without incident. These…
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Win for Parental Rights and Free Speech: Celine vs eSafety Commissioner
In a major win for free expression, the Federal Court of Australia handed down a ruling on 18 February 2026 against the eSafety Commissioner, led by Julie Inman Grant. The case involved Sydney mum Celine Baumgarten, who had posted on X (formerly Twitter) questioning the appropriateness of a “queer club” at a Melbourne primary school.…
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A Wake-Up Call for Women’s Sex-Based Rights in Australia
Kirralie Smith’s legal case marks a turning point in how Australian law treats women who speak publicly about sex-based rights. Her prosecution and heavy penalties for online commentary about women’s sport raise profound questions about free speech, political communication, and whether women can still lawfully defend sex-based categories in public debate. While courts characterised Smith’s…
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Protest Against Libraries Tasmania: Standing Up for Women’s Voices
On Sunday, 9 November, members of Women Speak Tasmania (WST) gathered outside the Hobart Library in Murray Street to protest Libraries Tasmania’s ongoing ban on hiring meeting rooms to our organisation. We organised the protest to coincide with the busy Farm Gate Market, ensuring our message would reach a wide cross-section of the community. This…
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Women Protest Libraries Tasmania Ban
Women Speak Tasmania (WST) members are this morning protesting outside Hobart Library in Murray Street over Libraries Tasmania’s ban on hiring out community meeting facilities to our organisation. As reported by The Australian on 30 October 2025 (“Women’s group banned from Tasmanian libraries for ‘hate speech’”), WST has been permanently banned from hiring Libraries Tasmania…
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Institutional Capitulation: How a Melbourne Council Cancelled Helen Joyce
The City of Melbourne’s cancellation of a women’s rights forum featuring Helen Joyce stands as a stark warning about the fragility of free speech in Australia. What was intended to be a private, ticketed discussion on the impacts of gender identity ideology on women and children instead became a textbook case of institutional capitulation to…
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On Charlie Kirk
“I want to be remembered for courage for my faith. That would be the most important thing. The most important thing is my faith.” – Charlie Kirk Perhaps it seems a little strange for an Australian Anglican Minister to want to write about an American Christian and conservative activist. And yet a week after being…