Sex Discrimination Amendment (Sex-based Rights) Bill 2026

Mr CHAFFEY (Parkes) (11:54): I stand here today as a husband, as a father and as a grandfather to support the private member's bill brought by my colleague the courageous member for Lyne, Alison Penfold. I was born a male, and therefore I can never live what it means to be a female, and I will not pretend to do so. But I do know—from those close to me and those I have known through my work, family, church and representation of the people of the Parkes electorate—that women do not yet have equality.

We do not live in a world where women feel safe. Simple statistics show us why. Two in five women in Australia have experienced violence since the age of 15.

A woman is killed every nine days by a current or former partner. In 2023-24, 6,751 women aged 15 or over needed hospitalisation due to family or domestic violence. This is why women need safe spaces—for this and many other reasons that both women and the courts can attest to.

We live in a time when gender is, unfortunately, no longer straightforward. The world is more open and accepting. Again, pure statistics show this is a crucial need.

The current Sex Discrimination Act has bowed to political correctness at great cost. There is a way for all people—men, women and transgender people—to live in dignity and safety without jeopardising women's rights to privacy. Unfortunately, that way is not possible through the current Sex Discrimination Act.

Recent legal matters have established that a man wearing lipstick, a man in a dress, a man who simply says he's a woman, is a woman. This is worrying. This is a frightening precedent, and it is a both hurtful and threatening statement to all women.

It clearly shows that women-only spaces cannot be assured, and it clearly shows the protections for women's sports, women's health, women's privacy, women's services and women's safety cannot be assured. The current Sex Discrimination Act puts the risk of offence ahead of women's rights. We should never have to apologise for being born a man or a woman.

All Australians should be allowed the dignity to be proud of their biological sex. I applaud the member for Lyne for taking a stand, and I support her and the women who, throughout the course of our nation's history, have fought for women's rights. I support this bill, which seeks amendments to a law that does not serve the people of this country.

I support this move that, as the member for Lyne has said, 'seeks to restore clarity, certainty and common sense to the law'. Biological sex is a reality, and it matters. It should not be phased out through an act of parliament.

This amendment bill will reinstate the definition of what it means to be a man and what it means to be a woman. It will ensure that there are explicit protections for women-only spaces, services and activities, including online activities. I feel strongly about the future of my daughters and my granddaughters, as I do for that of many of my constituents, including Samantha of Gunnedah, who is one of the many who have written to me and asked me to support this bill.

Samantha says: Our daughters and granddaughters deserve fair sport, safe change rooms and women-only spaces. Recent court rulings have made it clear that without legal definition, these protections collapse. I'm urging you as my representative to do this for all the women and girls in your electorate and across the country.

Well, Samantha, I also want them to feel safe and secure and to be proud of who they were born to be. I want them to have the legal protections that help right the wrongs already entrenched by the current Sex Discrimination Act. This bill brings reality back to the situation and allows women to be women without apology.

I commend the bill. The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Mr Georganas ): The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.