Author: Woman
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Kara Dansky Launches TERFLandia in Tasmania: An Evening Celebrating Women’s Rights
American women’s rights advocate and author Kara Dansky launched her new book, TERFLandia: How the Global Terven Will Win the Gender Wars, in Tasmania on Tuesday, 27 October 2026. The evening, held at the Tonic Bar at Country Club Tasmania in Prospect Vale, was jointly hosted by Women Speak Australia (WSA) and Women Speak Tasmania…
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Queensland Anti-Discrimination Review: Why Legal Clarity and Women’s Rights Matter
Women Speak Australia has made a submission to the Queensland Government’s Strategic Review of the Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Framework, focusing on Part C: the review of the Respect at Work and Other Matters Amendment Act 2024. Our submission examines proposed changes to Queensland’s anti-discrimination legislation, including the meaning of equality, new prohibitions on sex-based…
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Keeping Mothers at the Centre: Woman-Centred Postpartum Care, Evidence and Sex-Specific Health Data
Women Speak Australia has made a submission to the Senate Select Committee on Women’s Health, examining postpartum care, maternal health and mortality, contraception, sex-specific health data, and the monitoring of medical devices used in women’s healthcare. Our submission begins with a straightforward principle: the woman who was pregnant remains the patient after birth. The end…
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Medical Services Advisory Committee (MSAC) consultation survey on Medicare funding for gender-affirming surgery
Women Speak Australia has responded to the Medical Services Advisory Committee (MSAC) consultation survey on Application 1754 — Surgical Procedures for Gender Affirmation in Adults with Gender Incongruence. The application, made by the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons, seeks the creation of new Medicare Benefits Schedule items for gender-affirming surgeries. MSAC describes these surgeries as…
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NSW Anti-Discrimination Act Review: Why the Legal Framework Matters for Women
Women Speak Australia has made a submission to the NSW Law Reform Commission’s review of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 (NSW), focusing on the Act’s objects, structure, exceptions, special measures and exemption processes. The NSW Law Reform Commission is reviewing the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977, the legislation that establishes protections against discrimination across a range of areas…
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Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 (NSW): Analysis of Sex, Transgender Status and Homosexuality
The Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 (NSW) is often discussed as though it contains a single modern framework of protected characteristics. It does not. The Act has been amended repeatedly since 1977, and its protections are organised into separate Parts dealing with different grounds. Sex is protected under Part 3. Transgender status is protected separately under Part…
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Digital Duty of Care: Submission on the Online Safety Amendment Bill 2026
Women Speak Australia (WSA) has made a submission on the Australian Government’s Online Safety Amendment (Digital Duty of Care) Bill 2026 exposure draft. The proposed legislation would introduce a preventative digital duty of care, requiring online services to identify and manage reasonably foreseeable risks of harm arising from online content, design features and systems. WSA…
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From Conference to Declaration: A National Call to Abolish Surrogacy
On 21–22 August, women’s rights advocates, people with lived experience, researchers, legal and human-rights contributors and others gathered in Melbourne for the national conference In the Name of the Child: The Perils of Surrogate Motherhood for Mother and Baby. The conference was organised by ARMS — Association Representing Mothers Separated by Adoption — and brought…
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Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) — An Analysis
Introduction The Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) was enacted to address discrimination on the ground of sex. It gave effect to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and promoted “the principle of the equality of men and women.” That object only works if men and women can be identified.…
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Sex-Based Violence Against Women and Girls and the Limits of Consent (A/HRC/59/47 and A/HRC/59/47/Add.4): Analysis of the UN Reports by Reem Alsalem
In June 2025, Reem Alsalem, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences, presented a thematic report to the Human Rights Council: A/HRC/59/47, Sex-based violence against women and girls: new frontiers and emerging issues. The report examines forms of violence against women and girls that are based on…