Tag: 2026
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Child Safeguarding and the NSW Anti-Discrimination Act: What the HGY Decision Raises
A recent decision of the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal raises an important question for child safeguarding and the future operation of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 (NSW): how should anti-discrimination protections interact with reasonable identity and background checks designed to protect children? The question arises from HGY v Secretary, Ministry of Health in respect of…
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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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Gender Dysphoria in Children: Where Australia Stands Before the NHMRC Review
A national situationer before NHMRC interim advice on puberty suppression Australia is approaching an important point in the national debate about the clinical treatment of children and adolescents experiencing gender dysphoria. In January 2025, the Australian Government asked the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) to develop new national clinical practice guidelines for the…
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High Court Brings Giggle v Tickle Litigation to an End
The long-running legal dispute between Giggle for Girls founder Sall Grover and Roxanne Tickle has now reached its conclusion, with the High Court of Australia refusing special leave to appeal the Full Court of the Federal Court’s May 2026 decision. On 10 September 2026, the High Court refused the application, with costs. The refusal means…
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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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Women’s Sport in Australia: One Category, Different Rules
Women’s sport in Australia is increasingly governed by different rules about who is eligible to compete in the female category. At Olympic level, the International Olympic Committee has now adopted a policy restricting participation in the female category at the Olympic Games and other IOC events to biological females, with eligibility determined through a one-time…
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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…
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The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: An Analysis
“Children’s rights” and “the best interests of the child” are constantly invoked in Australian debates about medical treatment of minors, parental authority, identity, adoption and surrogacy. They are less often read. The Convention on the Rights of the Child does not supply simple answers to these questions. It supplies a framework that has to be…