Women Speak Tasmania

Tag: Sex Discrimination Act

  • Terf Island is Rising Up — And Australia is Feeling the Tremors

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    An earthquake has hit Australian politics. The recent Full Federal Court ruling in the Giggle v Tickle case has left many Australian women furious. This is no small legal dispute — it is an event that could reshape Australia’s political landscape for years to come. Politicians who stayed silent for years are suddenly finding their…

  • Sall Grover Loses Landmark Appeal on Female Spaces

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    On 15 May 2026 the Full Federal Court of Australia delivered its judgment in Giggle for Girls Pty Ltd v Tickle. The court dismissed Sall Grover’s appeal and upheld (in part) Roxanne Tickle’s cross-appeal. It recharacterised the discrimination as direct rather than indirect, doubled the damages to $20,000, and ordered Grover and her company to…

  • Human Rights, Sex-Based Rights, and the Questions Left Unanswered

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    On 21 April 2026, the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), in partnership with Tasmania’s Office of the Anti-Discrimination Commissioner, hosted the first event in its national seminar series titled “The Answer Is Human Rights” at the RACV Hobart Hotel. The event marked the AHRC’s 40th anniversary and promoted two major reform agendas: The evening featured…

  • Analysis of The Australia Human Rights Commission’s Equal Identities Report

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    Women Speak Tasmania has carefully reviewed the Australian Human Rights Commission’s March 2026 report, Equal Identities – A human rights review of the experiences of trans and gender diverse people in Australia. While the report claims to advance human rights, its 19 recommendations would seriously undermine the sex-based rights of women and girls in Australia…

  • How Gender Policy Is Costing Girls Their Sporting Future

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    Tasmania’s gender law reforms, which prioritise self-identification over biological sex, are having profound and often unintended consequences for women and girls. These policies grant immediate access to female-only sports, change rooms, toilets, and services based solely on declared gender identity, without safeguards or consideration of measurable physical differences between male and female bodies. While inclusion…

  • Australia’s Sex Discrimination Commissioner Refuses to Acknowledge Biological Sex

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    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,…

  • Does Australia’s Sex Discrimination Commissioner Listen to Women?

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    At the National Press Club address on 24 September 2025, Australia’s Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Anna Cody, was asked a direct question by Dr Megan Poore of the Women’s Advocate about whether she would use her powers to ensure that women’s groups working for sex-based rights are meaningfully consulted in law and policy. CEDAW Article 7…

  • Urgent Recognition of Women as Stakeholders in Sex-Based Protections and the SDA – Letter to Katy Gallagher

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    Dear Minister Gallagher, Re: Urgent Recognition of Women as Stakeholders in Sex-Based Protections and the SDA We write on behalf of Women Speak Tasmania (WST) regarding the ongoing erosion of sex-based protections and rights for women and girls under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (SDA). On 2 September during Senate Question Time, Senator Pauline Hanson…

  • Minister Gallagher Must Listen to Women as Stakeholders in Women’s Rights

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    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…

  • Restoration of Sexed-Based Protections and Rights for Women and Girls – Letter to Katy Gallagher

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    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…