Nationals MP Alison Penfold has introduced a Private Member’s Bill seeking to rewrite the Sex Discrimination Act to enact strict biological definitions of sex and gender.
The move has been criticised, with Equality Australia and Intersex Human Rights Australia arguing it would have significant consequences for intersex and transgender people.
Penfold told parliament she was an “ordinary woman” representing “millions” of Australian women who hold concerns about the 2013 amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act.
“The parliament created ambiguity in 2013 when it amended the Sex Discrimination Act to insert gender identity protections without properly defining what should happen when they come into conflict with sex based rights,” Penfold told the House.
Her decision to introduce a Private Member’s Bill follows an appeal in the Federal Court in the Giggle v Tickle case. The court upheld and expanded an earlier finding that Sall Grover and her company, Giggle for Girls, had indirectly discriminated against transgender woman Roxanne Tickle when they banned her from a social media app targeted at women.
The court also found that Tickle had suffered direct discrimination. She was awarded $20,000 in compensation, with Grover and her company also facing up to $100,000 in legal costs.
Penfold said the court had reached its decision because the law permitted that outcome.
“The court interpreted the law that this parliament wrote. The fault lies here,” Penfold said, arguing for significant legislative change.
Penfold told parliament that her legislation had been written with assistance from the Australian Christian Lobby and the Christian-based Human Rights Law Alliance. Advocacy group Binary, led by Kirralie Smith, has also claimed to have played a significant role in drafting the legislation.
The MP said her proposed version of the Sex Discrimination Act would prioritise biological sex over gender identity.
“The law must recognise and favour biological reality, because laws only function properly when they are grounded in objective facts that can be consistently understood and applied,” she said.
Penfold said transgender Australians should be treated with dignity and respect and should not face harassment or “blanket discrimination”. She said her legislation would allow explicit protections for women-only spaces, services and activities, including those offered online.
The MP acknowledged that, as a Private Member’s Bill, her proposal has little chance of becoming law while the Coalition remains in opposition. She called on the Prime Minister to allow a joint select committee of both houses of parliament to examine sex based rights and review the operation of the Sex Discrimination Act, including the provisions of her bill.
Equality Australia response
Equality Australia says Penfold’s bill would weaken anti-discrimination protections for both trans people and women.
“These changes would fundamentally reshape Australia’s sex discrimination laws, which recognise that women are often judged, excluded and treated unfairly because of gendered assumptions and stereotypes,” the organisation said.
“This Bill is legally messy, socially divisive and risks weakening protections for all women.”
Equality Australia also warned that the bill may strip protections and legal recognition from some intersex people.
“Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, and to feel safe and included in their community,” the group said.
Intersex Human Rights Australia raises concerns
Dr Morgan Carpenter, bioethicist and Executive Director of Intersex Human Rights Australia, said the proposal could adversely affect people with intersex variations.
“Proposals to enact definitions of biological sex can have an adverse effect on people with intersex variations,” Dr Carpenter told Q News. “Some people may find themselves involuntarily reclassified out of their birth-observed sex.”
Intersex is an umbrella term referring to people born with hormonal, chromosomal or anatomical variations of sex characteristics that do not align with typical medical or social definitions of male or female bodies. These variations can involve sex chromosomes, hormones, reproductive organs and or sexual anatomy.
