Tag: Sex Discrimination Act
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Analysis of The Australia Human Rights Commission’s Equal Identities Report
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…
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How Gender Policy Is Costing Girls Their Sporting Future
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…
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Australia’s Sex Discrimination Commissioner Refuses to Acknowledge Biological Sex
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,…
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Does Australia’s Sex Discrimination Commissioner Listen to Women?
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…
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Urgent Recognition of Women as Stakeholders in Sex-Based Protections and the SDA – Letter to Katy Gallagher
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…
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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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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…