Rights for humans (male and female)

December 8, 2025

Before our government draws up a bill to introduce a Human Rights Act in Australia, it needs to reverse the amendments made in 2013 to the Sex Discrimination Act. In 2013 the Gillard government withdrew from the Act the words “women” and “men” and introduced the notion of “gender identity”, which, in practice, has come to take precedence over sex.

One outcome is that the Human Rights Commission has ruled that it is illegal for lesbians to advertise lesbian events as female only. Another court ruling has been that Giggle, an online app for women, cannot insist on a female-only membership. There are appeals against both of these rulings.

In recent meetings of Senate Estimates, the Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Anna Cody, has declined to define the words “man” and “woman” (instead listing groups of people she sees as women who need her protection). Without clear legal definitions of these words, Australia is unable to introduce a Human Rights Act which ensures the rights of women and men, and the rights of all citizens to freedom of assembly.