Gender ideology has had a devastating impact on the rights, safety and dignity of women and girls who are being forced to share female-only spaces and sports with biological males.
It has destroyed the health and wellbeing of vulnerable children who are being subjected to harmful and irreversible medical transition practices.
And it has trampled on the freedoms of ordinary people who are being persecuted simply for speaking the truth and living in accordance with biological reality.
But all around the world, the tide is turning on this destructive and insidious ideology.
Trump has signed Executive Orders restoring women’s sex-based rights and biological reality to US federal laws and policies, protecting single-sex sport for women and girls, and restricting ‘gender affirming care’ for young people under 19.
At the end of last year, the UK Labour Government indefinitely banned puberty blockers for under-18s with gender dysphoria, and just a couple of weeks ago, the UK Supreme Court ruled that a woman is a biological female, restoring women’s sex-based rights in policies and practices across the UK.
European countries like Sweden, Finland and Denmark, have significantly restricted practices like puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgeries for children and young people, and have moved towards an approach that prioritises psychotherapy and psychosocial support.
International sporting bodies, including World Athletics, World Aquatics and World Rugby, have restricted men who identify as women from competing in women’s sports.
Australians are also waking up to the harms of men who say they’re women in female-only spaces and sports, the devastating impact of child medical transitioning, and the dangers of having an ideology that elevates the notion of gender identity over biological sex embedded throughout our institutions.
And as Australians prepare to vote in the federal election on Saturday, it is critical to consider where political parties stand on these issues.
Women’s sex-based rights
Unfortunately, no major Australian political party has a clear position on women’s sex-based rights, in particular, whether they will ensure female-only spaces, services and sports are only for women and girls, and not the males who claim to be them.
What we do know, is that it was under Julia Gillard’s Labor Government that the biological definitions of man and woman were removed from the Sex Discrimination Act and protections for gender identity introduced, which has substantially eroded women’s sex-based rights and protections. Calls for the current Labor Government to repeal these amendments and restore women’s sex-based rights, have fallen on deaf ears.
Like the Labor Party, the Liberal National Coalition has not committed to any policy changes in this area. However, Liberal Leader Peter Dutton has indicated his support for female-only sport, saying that women and girls wanting to compete on a fair basis is “a perfectly reasonable position to hold”, and that biological males competing in women’s competitions is not “in the spirit of sport”. In 2022, Liberal Senator Claire Chandler also introduced her Save Women’s Sport Bill and continues to be a strong advocate within the party for female-only sports, spaces and services.
While the major parties have been vague in their stance on protecting women’s sex-based rights, some of the minor parties have been more explicit.
The Australian Greens have made it clear at every opportunity that when the rights of women and men who identify as women clash, those men’s ‘rights’ will be preferenced and protected every time.
The Libertarian Party’s federal election policy platform states that “The rights of women to establish and maintain female-only spaces, like sports and changing rooms, is increasingly under threat, while changes to the Sex Discrimination Act have been weaponised to further erode freedom of association”. Its campaign policies include commitments to “Restore the legal definition of a "woman" in the Sex Discrimination Act”, “Ensure that women have the freedom to create and maintain exclusive spaces”, “Repeal legislation that forces women to accept biological men into bathrooms, changerooms, or clubs” and “Allow sporting bodies to establish female-only categories and exclude biological men from women's sport”.
One Nation has guaranteed voters that it “stands for safe spaces and sports for biological women”. Senator Pauline Hanson has also attempted to introduce legislation that would restore women’s sex-based rights by re-inserting the biological definitions of man and woman and removing ‘gender identity’ in the Sex Discrimination Act. This was blocked by Labor and the Greens in the Senate.
Family First Australia holds policy positions to “Protect girls’ and women’s sport from the intrusion of biological males” and “Ensure girls' and women's private spaces are free from the intrusion of biological males”.
Australian Christians’ policy positions include “Repeal legislation that undermines the biological reality of binary genders” and “Protect girls and women in sports”. They have also been vocal in their support for female-only spaces and the harms of sex self-ID laws, which allow men to legally identify as women.
Youth medical transition practices
In April 2024 the long awaited Cass Review into youth gender practices was released in the UK. The landmark review found a lack of evidence to support the safety and effectiveness of the ‘gender-affirmation model’, including the use of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones.
The current Labor Health Minister, Mark Butler, dismissed the findings as not being relevant to Australia. Then this year, over 100 high profile Australians, including former Liberal Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Professor Clive Hamilton and around 40 doctors, signed a letter to Prime Minister Albanese calling on him to hold a national inquiry into ‘gender affirming’ practices for children and young people and to halt all such practices until the inquiry is complete. The Prime Minister ignored these calls, and instead, Butler announced that he would hold a review of the Australian Standards of Care and Treatment Guidelines for Trans and Gender Diverse Children and Adolescents. His Assistant Health Minister Ged Kearney released an additional statement endorsing the current guidelines (which support the ‘gender-affirmation model’) as “excellent”, noting that the review was activist-driven, and its purpose was simply to ensure that the guidelines were consistent throughout the country. Labor senators also voted down a motion by One Nation calling for an inquiry into youth gender medicine in Australia.
Again, while falling short of a federal policy position on this issue, several Liberal National Coalition senators have actively opposed ‘gender-affirming’ interventions for minors, including puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. In October 2023, a bill was introduced by Senators Alex Antic (Liberal Party), Matt Canavan (National Party), Malcolm Roberts (One Nation), and Ralph Babet (United Australia Party) aiming to “[prohibit] health practitioners from performing gender clinical interventions intended to transition a minor’s biological sex”. Additionally, 18 Coalition senators voted to support One Nation’s motion to hold an inquiry into youth gender medicine in Australia. Dutton also defended the Queensland LNP Government’s decision to pause new prescriptions for puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones pending a state inquiry after Butler attempted to shut it down.
The Australian Greens strongly support ‘gender affirming’ medical practices for children and young people, including puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. Their policies include the goal to make ‘gender affirming care’ “free and publicly accessible”, with a “plan to make gender affirming healthcare a permanent part of Medicare, investing $15 million per year to cover the out of pocket costs experienced by trans and gender diverse people in accessing gender affirming healthcare”.
The Libertarian Party’s policy platform acknowledges that “Encouraging children to embrace their inherent worth and biological bodies is essential, yet irreversible medical interventions often overshadow this approach”. The party commits to “Restrict gender transition surgery and hormone treatment to adults” and “Ensure that parents, psychologists, chaplains, and health practitioners can affirm an individual's inherent worth or encourage acceptance of their biological bodies”.
One Nation has called for an immediate national ban on medical transition interventions such as puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and transgender surgeries for children and young people. It has also moved multiple motions for parliamentary inquiries into these practices. As noted above, last year One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts co-introduced a federal bill to ban ‘gender-affirming’ practices on minors.
Family First Australia advocates for an immediate national ban on medical interventions such as puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and transgender surgeries for individuals under 18. It holds policy positions to “Ban the use of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and “gender affirmation” surgery on minors” and “Restore parents' rights by making it an offence for teachers or social workers to hide from parents their child’s decision to change gender, as is encouraged by education departments like that in Victoria”.
Australian Christians advocate for an immediate halt on ‘gender affirming’ medical interventions until a thorough investigation has been conducted, and have been outspoken on the harms of practices like puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgeries. One of its policy positions is “Lead an extensive Gender Inquiry to ban puberty blockers for minors”.
Summary
Gender ideology has infiltrated Australian institutions and impacted every aspect of Australian society, including government, media, education, healthcare, sport, workplaces and more. The result has been immense damage to the rights and safety of women and girls, the health and wellbeing of vulnerable children, and the freedoms of everyday Australians.
It is disappointing that neither of the major parties have taken clear policy positions to combat this dangerous ideology and to protect women and children. However, while Labor appears to be doubling down on its support for ‘trans rights’ at the expense of women and children, multiple Liberal National politicians have expressed their support for women’s sex-based rights and inquiries into youth gender medicine.
We commend minor parties like the Libertarians, One Nation, Family First and Australian Christians for taking a strong stand on these issues and for being willing to champion the rights and safety of women and children and the rights of Australians to speak and live in accordance with truth and biological reality.
Women’s Forum Australia is an independent think tank that undertakes research, education and public policy advocacy on issues affecting women and girls, with a particular focus on addressing behaviours and practices that are harmful and abusive to them. We are a non-partisan, non-religious, tax-deductible charity. We do not receive any government funding and rely solely on donations to make an impact. Support our work today.
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