Across Australia, male offenders who identify as women are being housed in women’s prisons — placing some of the most vulnerable women in our nation at risk of sexual assault, intimidation, and trauma.
This is not hypothetical. It has already happened.
In Victoria, a man who sexually abused his own five-year-old daughter is currently imprisoned in the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre for women after a court accepted that his crimes were linked to his “gender identity” and reduced his sentence. This is not the first time a male sex offender has been housed in that prison.
In South Australia, a female inmate was sexually assaulted by a violent male offender placed in her cell despite authorities knowing his history of violence against women. Despite pleading for help, she was left in that same cell with her attacker for days. Other women have reportedly been harassed and traumatised by the same man.
And in New South Wales, male offenders have also been housed in women's prisons, with alarming applications by violent male offenders to transfer to women’s recently coming to light.
Women’s Forum Australia has written to the Prime Minister and every state and territory leader, calling for immediate action to protect women’s safety and dignity in custody.
A national response is now urgently needed.
Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro has shown the leadership Australia needs — becoming the first Australian leader to ban male offenders from women’s prisons in the Northern Territory.
Now every other Premier and Chief Minister must follow her lead.
See what’s happening in each state below. Then add your voice to call on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and all State and Territory leaders to remove men from women's prisons and protect the human rights and safety of women in custody.
Victoria
On 28 September 2025, The Australian reported that a trans-identified male offender who sexually abused his own 5-year-old daughter has been placed in the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, Victoria’s largest women’s prison.
Disturbingly, the Court accepted arguments that the offender’s gender dysphoria and struggles with transition diminished his culpability and that he committed the abuse in part to be validated as a woman, framing his crimes as those “commonly seen in females charged with sexual offences”. This extraordinary reasoning falsely and unjustly recast a man’s crimes as a woman’s and led to an alarmingly reduced sentence of years and 9 months with eligibility for release in just 2½ years.
Despite community outrage and direct appeals to the Victorian Premier, the man remains in the women’s prison. And this is not the first such case in Victoria. We know of at least 7 male offenders who have been housed in Victorian women’s prisons since 2003, including another male sex offender housed in the same women’s prison in 2022.
Premier Jacinta Allan referred our correspondence to the Minister for Corrections. She was then forced to comment at a press conference, saying that her government would not intervene in the matter, as it would be “deeply inappropriate” for the Premier or a minister “to be reaching into Corrections Victoria and directing the placement of any prisoner”. Opposition Leader Brad Battin said that under a government run by him, there would be no male sex offenders in women’s prisons.
After significant community pressure and backlash sparked by our campaign, and questions from MLCs Bev McArthur and David Limbrick, Corrections Minister Enver Erdogan has ordered Corrections Victoria to strengthen protections for female inmates, contradicting initial comments by the Premier.
South Australia
On 10 October 2025, The Australian revealed a shocking story from South Australia, where inside the Port Augusta Prison — which accommodates both male and female offenders — a female prisoner was failed in every way imaginable by the state’s correctional services.
She was placed in a cell with a notoriously violent trans-identified male offender and was subjected to a horrific sexual assault by him — an assault that was not prevented by the fact that he had had full gender-reassignment surgery. When she complained to prison staff they ignored her pleas for days, leaving her in the same cell as her attacker. To make matters worse, when the woman recently lodged a formal complaint asking for the record of her original complaint to be released, she was disgracefully told she would need to request the documents under Freedom of Information laws with no indication of whether her complaint would be investigated.
After seeing the Victorian story, the woman decided to speak out so that politicians act to ensure what happened to her never happens to another woman. Since she spoke out, another woman has come forward to detail the five months of hell she experienced being locked up with the same man.
Premier Peter Malinauskas referred our correspondence to the Minister for Corrections. Then, at a press conference, he shamefully referred to the safety of female inmates with regard to male offenders being housed in women’s prisons as a “niche issue” that he “hadn’t turned his mind to”.
Opposition Leader Vincent Tarzia has since called out the Premier for dismissing the issue of male offenders in women's prisons as a “niche issue”. Tarzia said the government must properly investigate and urged the Premier to release any advice he’s received on the subject, stressing that the debate is about safety.
New South Wales
On 11 October 2025, The Daily Telegraph reported that in New South Wales, a violent trans-identified male offender convicted of kidnapping and torturing an elderly man had a transfer application to a women’s prison under consideration for nearly a year. We also know that trans-identified male offenders have been imprisoned in NSW women’s prisons as recently as 2022.
Just hours after the paper exposed the application, Corrective Services NSW scrambled to reject it — as it did earlier in the year when the Daily Telegraph revealed that a double male murderer wanted to transfer to a women’s prison. In relation to the most recent case, Corrections noted that “there are no pre-operative female transgender inmates at female correctional centres, and none have been approved to transfer to a centre”. Premier Chris Minns also commented, “I can’t see a situation where a transitioning male to female will ever be put in a female prison in NSW.”
While this initially sounds encouraging, the statement suggests that post-operative males may still be eligible for placement. As the South Australian story shows, being a ‘post-operative’ male offender doesn’t prevent sexual assault, and such a statement gives little comfort given that Corrective Services NSW has quietly removed its previous gender-identity policy and left nothing in its place.
New sex self-ID laws in NSW allowing anyone to change their legal sex — which have also been rolled out across much of the country — raise questions about male offenders who have already changed their legal sex before being charged and convicted.
We have written to the Premier seeking urgent clarification on:
- Whether NSW’s position is that no males will be housed in women’s prisons under any circumstances, or whether some males may be eligible if they have had surgery or undergone some form of 'transitioning'.
- What will happen in situations where a male offender has changed their legal sex to female before offending or conviction.
- What policy currently governs placement decisions, given the previous Corrections policy allowing housing based on gender identity was removed earlier this year amid controversy over this very issue.
Queensland
To be updated.
Western Australia
On 15 October 2025, One Nation MLC Philip Scott questioned the WA Labor Government about whether it is housing male offenders in women's prisons.
The government confirmed that there are currently no men who identify as women in WA women's prisons.
While this is pleasing to hear, we do wonder how the government can be sure after its sex self-ID laws - allowing anyone to change their legal sex - came into force this year.
We also note that while there may not be any males in WA women's prisons currently, WA corrections policy 'COPP 4.6 Trans, Gender Diverse and Intersex Prisoners' does allow it.
The policy states that "A prisoner who identifies as trans, gender diverse or intersex may be considered for placement in a prison which is different to their biological sex or the legally documented gender or other instrument authorising imprisonment."
This isn't good enough. There is no good reason for allowing a biological male to be housed in a women's prison.
We are yet to receive a response from Premier Roger Cook to our letter calling on State and Territory leaders to update their policies to ban male offenders from women's prisons.
Tasmania
To be updated.
Australian Capital Territory
Premier Andrew Barr referred our correspondence to Minister for Corrections Marisa Paterson. We have received an unsatisfactory response from the Minister which we are following up.
Northern Territory
After receiving our letter on 12 October 2025, the next day, Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro took decisive action to immediately ensure a ban on male offenders from women’s prisons as a vital step to uphold the human rights, safety, and dignity of women in custody.
Chief Minister Finocchiaro has demonstrated true leadership. Other states and territories must now follow suit and take immediate action to safeguard women in their care.
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