25 May 2026 - National LGBTIQ+ group Equality Australia has slammed a private member’s bill that would weaken federal anti-discrimination protections for LGBTIQ+ people and women. 

Nationals MP Alison Penfold on Monday introduced the bill to federal parliament, which includes a narrow definition of sex and seeks to exclude trans women from a range of public spaces and protections. 

Equality Australia Legal Director Heather Corkhill: 

“This bill would give sexism and misogyny a free pass while stripping trans women of basic protections. 

“This bill is legally messy, socially divisive and risks weakening protections for all women. 

“These changes would fundamentally reshape Australia’s sex discrimination laws. 

“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.” 

Dr Morgan Carpenter, bioethicist and Executive Director of Intersex Human Rights Australia (IHRA): 

“Proposals to enact definitions of biological sex can have an adverse effect on people with intersex variations. Some people may find themselves involuntarily reclassified out of their birth-observed sex.”