MEMBER for Lyne Alison Penfold has introduced a Private Member’s Bill to the Australian Parliament to amend the Sex Discrimination Act.
Ms Penfold wants to reinstate the Act’s 1984 definitions of a man and woman, which were based on biological sex, not self-identification.
In a statement, she said, “The Parliament has a responsibility to provide clear legal protections for women and girls in Australian law.
“This would ensure [that] where there is a conflict, biological sex prevails.”
The introduction of the Bill follows the landmark Federal Court ruling on 15 May in the long-running case of Giggle for Girls v Tickle.
In a unanimous decision, three judges ruled that the operators of Giggle v Girls discriminated against transgender woman Roxanne Tickle, by excluding her from the women-only app.
Equality Australia Legal Director Heather Corkhill said the ruling was a win for both women and LGBTIQ+ people because it found that the concept of womanhood “is not to be understood by reference to any narrow or rigid conception of femaleness.”
“For decades, Australian laws have recognised that a person’s legal sex is not limited to the sex they were assigned at birth – any other interpretation would deny the reality and existence of trans people,” she said.
Ms Penfold said the timing of her Bill is a “coincidence” as it had been on the parliament’s Notice Paper for more than seven weeks.
However, she said the Giggle for Girls case shows that “the current law created by the Gillard Labor Government in 2013 was not fit for purpose”.
“Every Australian deserves dignity, safety and respect but women and girls deserve certainty that sex-based protections in law mean something in practice – on the sporting field, in women’s only gyms, on women-only online apps and in women’s prisons and domestic violence shelters.
“Sex is biological and binary and should not be ambiguous.”
The Bill also includes protections for female services, spaces and activities.
A copy can be found at alisonpenfold.com.au/protectingwomenandgirls.
By Sue STEPHENSON
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