Tag: Tasmania Legislation
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Reviewing Tasmania’s Prostitution Framework: Strengths, Weaknesses & How to Improve
Tasmania’s legal framework around prostitution offers a mix of protections, restrictions, and blind spots. Drawing on the recent UN Special Rapporteur report (A/HRC/56/48) on prostitution and violence against women and girls, here’s a breakdown of where Tasmania stands well — where it falls short — and how the UN’s recommendations could guide improvements. Pros —…
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Tasmania’s Conversion Practices Bill 2024: A Threat to Evidence-Based Care for Children
The Tasmanian Government is planning to introduced the Justice Miscellaneous (Conversion Practices) Bill 2024, framing it as a measure to end harmful “conversion therapy.” While no one disputes the need to prevent coercive practices aimed at erasing sexual orientation, this Bill goes much further. By extending its reach to gender identity, it risks creating a…
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Critics come out against sex conversion therapy draft bill
The government took criticism from all sides this week when it released the draft of its long-awaited gender conversion therapy bill for public consultation. If passed, the bill would make it a crime, punishable by fines of nearly $30,000 and 18 months’ imprisonment, to conduct practices aimed at changing the sexual orientation of transgender, gay,…
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Calls for Review of Tasmania’s Sex Industry Laws after Prostituted Woman Murderer in Launceston
The murder of prostituted woman, Jingai Zhang, in Launceston on Boxing Day 2020 should be a wake-up call for those regulating the sex industry in Tasmania. ‘We have been reliably informed that activities in the sexual services business in which Jingai Zhang was engaged were in contravention of the Tasmanian Sex Industry Offences Act 2005’,…
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Call for Tasmanian Law Reform Institute to Rewrite Conversion Practices Issue Paper
Women Speak Tasmania have today contacted Dr Brendan Gogarty, Director of the Tasmanian Law Reform Institute requesting that the recently released Issues Paper ‘Conversion Practices: Law Reform Options for Tasmania’ be withdrawn and revised. The decision yesterday in the UK High Court case of Keira Bell, Sue Evans and Mrs A regarding use of puberty…
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The Debate Over Gender Optional Birth Certificates
SBS The Feed recently examined Tasmania’s recently enacted self-identification laws and the debate surrounding them. Women Speak Tasmania participated in the discussion to raise concerns about the impact of these reforms on women’s rights, sex-based protections and single-sex spaces. On 6 June 2019, SBS The Feed aired a segment titled The Debate Over Gender Optional…
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Analysis of the Justice and Related Legislation (Marriage and Gender Amendments) Act 2019 (Tas)
This is a clear brief of what the Justice and Related Legislation (Marriage and Gender Amendments) Act 2019 (Tas) does, how it defines sex and gender, and where the design leaves room for conflict—especially with women’s sex-based rights. Overview of the changes (by area) Anti-Discrimination Act 1998 Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1999 (BDMR)…
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State Government wants time to consider ‘dog’s breakfast’ Tasmania gender law
HISTORIC changes to transgender laws have been passed by the Tasmanian parliament after Liberal Speaker Sue Hickey repeatedly crossed the floor to support Labor and the Greens. The laws mean the recording of a child’s gender on their birth certificate will be optional, that people over 16 will be able to change their gender by…
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Women’s forum on transgender law reforms goes ahead
Women Speak Tasmania are holding a Q & A forum Review of Transgender Law Reforms on Monday 18th March at the Friends Meeting House in North Hobart between 6-7.30pm. This forum comes after a sustained campaign over many monoths by some in the trans rights lobby and their supporters to silence women’s voices on legislative proposals…
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A Response to Ruth Forrest on Self-ID and Birth Registration Changes – Letter to Ruth Forrest
Bronwyn Williams letter to Ruth Forrest in regards to her article in the Mercury on the 19th of December titled: “Politics of fear and prejudice” Dear Ruth, I refer to the opinion piece published under your name in the Mercury newspaper on 19 December 2018, titled ‘Politics of fear and prejudice’. In this article you…