Equality Australia has strongly criticised National MP Alison Penfold’s private member’s bill, introduced to federal parliament on Monday following the Giggle vs Tickle appeal, arguing it would weaken existing federal anti-discrimination protections for women and LGBTIQ+ Australians.
Penfold, who represents the New South Wales seat of Lyne, tabled the proposed legislation shortly after the Federal Court decision on May 15, which upheld a landmark ruling that Giggle for Girls unlawfully discriminated against transgender woman Roxanne Tickle.
The court also found the conduct constituted direct discrimination and increased damages from $10,000 to $20,000, confirming breaches of the Sex Discrimination Act and rejecting reliance on “special measures” provisions.
The bill proposes a narrower legal definition of sex and would limit the application of protections for trans women in certain public spaces and legal contexts. Penfold has previously signalled her intention to amend the Sex Discrimination Act to reduce protections for transgender people introduced through earlier reforms.
Speaking on Sky News last week, Penfold said that “This is an important issue in my community and across Australia,” while acknowledging the legislation is unlikely to progress under a Labor majority. “Just because the government is a lost cause on this issue, it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try,” she said.
Dr Morgan Carpenter, Executive Director of Intersex Human Rights Australia (IHRA), warned that the proposed changes could have serious implications for intersex people. “Proposals to enact definitions of biological sex can have an adverse effect on people with intersex variations,” Dr Carpenter said. “Some people may find themselves involuntarily reclassified out of their birth-observed sex.”
Intersex individuals are born with natural variations in sex characteristics that do not fit typical definitions of male or female bodies. Estimates suggest around 1.7 per cent of the population has some form of intersex trait, with at least 40 recognised variations.
Protections for LGBTQIA+ Australians were expanded in 2013 when amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act made it unlawful to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, and intersex status in public life.
On social media, Penfold argued that her bill “could fix the Sex Discrimination Act and restore women’s rights within weeks. We could halt the increasing trend of women being prosecuted for trying to uphold women’s spaces and safety, who have paid a significant personal and professional price for speaking out.”
At the time of introducing the legislation, she said she was “carrying the voices of millions of Australian women who no longer believe the law of this country protects them.” She also argued that “the parliament created ambiguity in 2013 when it amended the Sex Discrimination Act to insert gender identity protections without properly defining what should happen when they came into conflict with sex-based rights.”
Penfold acknowledged support from the Australian Christian Lobby and the Human Rights Law Alliance in developing the proposal. She said, “My bill seeks to restore clarity, certainty, and common sense to the law,” adding, “It starts from a very simple proposition: the law must recognise and favour biological reality, because laws only function properly when they are grounded in objective facts that can be consistently understood and applied.”
She further stated, “Biological sex is not a social construct created by parliament. It is not a matter of personal opinion.” Penfold added, “The role of the law is not to deny reality; it is to responsibly govern within it.” She continued, “If the law loses the ability to distinguish biological sex where it is relevant, then sex-based protections become impossible to apply consistently and fairly.”
She clarified, “That does not mean transgender Australians should be treated without dignity or respect. It does not mean they should face harassment or blanket discrimination. The law must be capable of distinguishing between sex and gender when those distinctions carry practical consequences.” She also said her bill would reinstate definitions of “man” and “woman” removed in 2013, while “retaining protections for transgender Australians against unfair discrimination where there is no conflict with a person’s sex.”
Equality Australia Legal Director Heather Corkhill described the bill as “legally messy, socially divisive and risks weakening protections for all women.” She added, “These changes would fundamentally reshape Australia’s sex discrimination laws,” and warned, “This bill would give sexism and misogyny a free pass while stripping trans women of basic protections.”
Corkhill further argued, “Sex discrimination has never been about biology alone — decades of case law make clear it is about gendered stereotypes, assumptions, and the unequal treatment of women and how they ‘should’ act and live. Rather than improving women’s safety or equality, this culture war risks dragging LGBTIQ+ and women’s rights back to the dark ages.”
