Liberal leader Angus Taylor says changing the Sex Discrimination Act and making clear definitions of who can be identified in law as male and female will be a top priority if he wins government at the next election.
The Liberal leader made the statement after a swathe of his MPs voiced concern about yesterday’s Federal Court ruling, which upheld that Roxanne Tickle, a transgender woman, had been discriminated against when she was barred from a women’s social media platform.
“Yesterday the Full Federal Court confirmed that Australian law does not properly protect single sex spaces for women and girls. Most Australians would find that hard to believe. A Coalition government I lead will fix this. We will amend the Sex Discrimination Act to ensure that women and girls (and men and boys) have protections based on biological sex.
“We will define biological sex in the Act. Male or female. The sex you are born. And we will protect single-sex spaces across Australian life. This is not radical. It is common sense,” Taylor said.
The Liberal leader denied he was targeting transgender Australians in the next election campaign.
“Let me be clear about what this is not. This is not about targeting transgender Australians. Every protection they currently have remains.
“We are not removing a single protection from anyone. But we are recognising something that should never have been in doubt: biological sex is real, it matters, and women and girls deserve spaces where it is respected. This will be a first-term priority,” Taylor said.
Taylor’s policy announcement gives the Liberal Party a position similar to Pauline Hanson’s One Nation and Family First on the issue, and comes at a time when the party is losing votes to more right-wing parties.
The court’s decision was welcomed by the Australian Human Rights Commission who said it provides important clarity about the protections against gender identity discrimination.
