Andrew Willcox (Dawson, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Manufacturing and Sovereign Capability) | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to support the Sex Discrimination Amendment (Sex-based Rights) Bill 2026, introduced by my friend the member for Lyne. Thirteen years ago, the Gillard Labor government deleted the biological definitions of 'man' and 'woman' from the federal statutes. That administration replaced physical facts with subjective feelings.

That ruling by Labor in 2013 was a major step backwards for the women in this country. In 1902, Australia led the world as the very first nation to grant women the dual rights to vote and stand for national parliament. Women didn't march, sacrifice and break barriers just for a future Labor government to render legally meaningless the very definition of what a woman is. What a century of female pioneers built with grit and sheer determination, Labor dismantled with the stroke of a pen.

Back then, people warned that dismantling biological definitions would lead to the erosion of private spaces and put the safety of women at risk, but they were dismissed and told there was absolutely no way that such unintended consequences would ever happen. Yet this year the full Federal Court looked at the fatal flaws of that legislation during the landmark Giggle for Girls Pty Ltd v Roxanne Tickle appeal and confirmed the inevitable: under Australian law, gender is now legally fluid, legally changeable and legally meaningless. After the judgement, Robert Clarke, Director of Advocacy for ADF International, stated:

A law written to protect women has been used to punish a woman for creating a space for women. That is what today's judgment means in practice.

The moment the law refuses to maintain the distinction between a male body and a female body, sex based protections cease to exist. It is that simple. If a domestic violence shelter cannot draw an ironclad line at biological sex, then the sanctuary is gone. If a communal changing room cannot draw the line on biological sex, privacy is gone.

The political irony of this modern moment is absolutely mind blowing. The Albanese government repeatedly boasts that it stands as Australia's first-ever majority-female government, yet, under this collective watch, the legal category of 'woman' is being completely erased. The unprecedented numbers around the cabinet table have completely abandoned the women of Australia. A society that refuses to define what a woman is will ultimately find it unable to protect one.

There are those who seek to deliberately misrepresent this legislation, so let me be crystal clear that this bill is not an attack on transgender Australians, does not reduce their safety and does not reduce or diminish their human dignity. Protecting biological women does not require the mistreatment or exclusion of anyone else. True fairness means recognising that different groups have different needs.

This bill restores legal reality. It reinstates the clear, biological definitions of 'man' and 'woman' that were stripped away in 2013. It replaces the vague phrase 'different sex' with the accurate, scientific term 'opposite sex', reflecting the binary of human biology. Importantly, this bill inserts a definitive new balancing clause establishing statutory protection for women-only spaces, services and sports against frivolous lawsuits.

The coalition will not stand by and watch women's rights be systematically compromised on the altar of political correctness. The Australian people are fed-up. They never voted to change the definitions of 'man' and 'woman'. These protections were dismantled without the consent of the majority. When the definitions were altered, there was no referendum, no broad based community consultation and no mandate from the quiet majority of citizens who expect their laws to reflect their reality.

Let common sense return to the statutes. Let the law anchor itself in reality. Let this chamber restore the rights and protections that Australian women deserve. I commend the bill to the House. (Time expired)

Jamie Chaffey (Parkes, National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Agriculture) | Link to this | Hansard source

I stand here today as a husband, as a father and as a grandfather to support the private member's bill brought by my colleague the courageous member for Lyne, Alison Penfold. I was born a male, and therefore I can never live what it means to be a female, and I will not pretend to do so. But I do know—from those close to me and those I have known through my work, family, church and representation of the people of the Parkes electorate—that women do not yet have equality. We do not live in a world where women feel safe.

Simple statistics show us why. Two in five women in Australia have experienced violence since the age of 15. A woman is killed every nine days by a current or former partner. In 2023-24, 6,751 women aged 15 or over needed hospitalisation due to family or domestic violence. This is why women need safe spaces—for this and many other reasons that both women and the courts can attest to.

We live in a time when gender is, unfortunately, no longer straightforward. The world is more open and accepting.

Again, pure statistics show this is a crucial need. The current Sex Discrimination Act has bowed to political correctness at great cost. There is a way for all people—men, women and transgender people—to live in dignity and safety without jeopardising women's rights to privacy. Unfortunately, that way is not possible through the current Sex Discrimination Act.

Recent legal matters have established that a man wearing lipstick, a man in a dress, a man who simply says he's a woman, is a woman. This is worrying. This is a frightening precedent, and it is a both hurtful and threatening statement to all women. It clearly shows that women-only spaces cannot be assured, and it clearly shows the protections for women's sports, women's health, women's privacy, women's services and women's safety cannot be assured. The current Sex Discrimination Act puts the risk of offence ahead of women's rights. We should never have to apologise for being born a man or a woman. All Australians should be allowed the dignity to be proud of their biological sex.

I applaud the member for Lyne for taking a stand, and I support her and the women who, throughout the course of our nation's history, have fought for women's rights. I support this bill, which seeks amendments to a law that does not serve the people of this country. I support this move that, as the member for Lyne has said, 'seeks to restore clarity, certainty and common sense to the law'.

Biological sex is a reality, and it matters. It should not be phased out through an act of parliament. This amendment bill will reinstate the definition of what it means to be a man and what it means to be a woman. It will ensure that there are explicit protections for women-only spaces, services and activities, including online activities.

I feel strongly about the future of my daughters and my granddaughters, as I do for that of many of my constituents, including Samantha of Gunnedah, who is one of the many who have written to me and asked me to support this bill. Samantha says:

Our daughters and granddaughters deserve fair sport, safe change rooms and women-only spaces. Recent court rulings have made it clear that without legal definition, these protections collapse.

I'm urging you as my representative to do this for all the women and girls in your electorate and across the country.

Well, Samantha, I also want them to feel safe and secure and to be proud of who they were born to be. I want them to have the legal protections that help right the wrongs already entrenched by the current Sex Discrimination Act.

This bill brings reality back to the situation and allows women to be women without apology. I commend the bill.

Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.