One hundred women’s organisations, LGBTIQ+ groups, unions, disability groups and mental health advocates have united to oppose proposals to redefine ‘sex’ under Australia’s anti-discrimination laws.
Image: 100 organisations unite to defend Australia’s anti-discrimination laws Source: equalityaustralia.org.au/Australian Senate
By Dean Arcuri
In an open letter to federal MPs, the organisations have warned that doing so would put longstanding protections for trans and intersex people, as well as women, at risk.
This action comes after a Coalition Bill seeking to rewrite the Sex Discrimination Act (SDA) was voted down in the Senate for the second time last week. Similar attempts to amend the Act have also been made by a Nationals MP and One Nation.
The letter urges all federal MPs to reject any changes that would redefine “sex” in the SDA or remove gender identity as a protected attribute, warning that such changes would undermine essential protections against discrimination.
“(It) would strip protections from transgender Australians and weaken safeguards for women more broadly. It would render entire groups of people invisible in law and trigger a cascade of damaging consequences,” the letter states.
“For decades, Australian governments have recognised transgender people in law and allowed amendments to identity documents. These protections have coexisted with women’s rights without evidence of safety issues or systemic failures.”
The open letter was signed by organisations including the Australian Council of Social Services (ACOSS), Australian Multicultural Women’s Alliance (AMWA), Victorian Trades Hall Council, Australian Services Union, Fair Agenda, ACON, National Foundation for Australian Women, Women With Disabilities Australia, Equality Australia, Women’s Electoral Lobby and Women’s Legal Services Australia.
‘Changing the meaning of ‘sex’ doesn’t solve a problem – it creates one’
The letter highlighted that such reforms ignore the reality of people born with variations of sex characteristics, create situations that are unworkable in practice and would lead to increased scrutiny of people’s bodies and appearances in workplaces, schools, and when accessing everyday services and facilities.
Dr Morgan Carpenter, bioethicist and Executive Director of Intersex Human Rights Australia, said, “Proposals to define biological sex in law don’t respect people whose innate characteristics are not typically female or typically male. These proposals coercively reassign many of us to categories we’ve never lived in.”
Equality Australia CEO Anna Brown highlighted that “Changing the meaning of ‘sex’ in the SDA doesn’t solve a problem – it creates one.”
“It would weaken protections for all women, strip rights from trans women, and leave Australia more divided than before.”
“The Coalition’s Bill won’t make women safer or more equal. It will create more division, more uncertainty and more harm, while undermining decades of progress towards a fairer Australia.”
Dr Gemma Killen, Executive Director of the Working with Women Alliance, said, “The SDA is the cornerstone of gender equality in Australia, and we do not want to see it weakened.”
“We don’t want a situation where women are judged as ‘not female enough’ to deserve protection or access to women-only spaces just because they might look or sound different to the feminine stereotype.”
Priscilla Brice, National Mental Health Consumer Alliance CEO, said, “Redefining ‘sex’ in the Act or removing gender identity as a protected attribute would add to the compounding discrimination already faced by LGBTQIA+ people.”
“We know that discrimination does not occur in isolation, and mental health consumers experience the compounding impact of gender, sexuality, and other identities alongside psychosocial disability. We are joining the call to not leave entire groups of people invisible to the law.”
Legislation which deliberately exposes trans people to harm
Last week, Liberal Senator Michaelia Cash failed in her latest attempt to amend the Sex Discrimination Act by introducing ‘biological sex-based’ definitions.
The motion to have Cash’s Sex Discrimination Amendment (Restoring Common Sense and Recognising Biological Sex) Bill 2026 returned to Parliament’s agenda was defeated 32 votes to 22.
In a social media post calling out Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Senator Cash said she would continue to campaign for changes to the legislation.
Greens Senator Nick McKim responded to the sudden push for this legislation as “transphobic”.
“They are hunting for votes by hunting vulnerable people,” McKim said. “They are introducing dangerously transphobic legislation which targets trans people and deliberately exposes them to harm.”
Signing the open letter to federal MPs, ACOSS CEO Cassandra Goldie cautioned “political leaders against rhetoric and actions that fuel hate and division. We all have a collective responsibility to keep our communities safe and protect basic human rights.”
“ACOSS strongly opposes any attempt to weaken the protections of the SDA and the rights of transgender, intersex and gender diverse people, who already face disproportionate discrimination and exclusion.”
Chair of the National Foundation for Australian Women, Sally Moyle, highlighted that “For generations, feminists have challenged the idea that there is only one way to be a woman.”
“By imposing a narrow definition of womanhood, this Bill risks reviving the very stereotypes feminism has spent decades dismantling, reducing women to their reproductive biology.
“It strikes at the heart of gender equality and weakens the legal protections that benefit all women.”
Source: https://qnews.com.au/100-organisations-unite-to-defend-australias-anti-discrimination-laws/
