We are Intersex Human Rights Australia

Intersex people are born with physical sex characteristics that don’t fit medical norms for female or male bodies. We have many different kinds of bodies and life experiences.

Intersex Human Rights Australia (IHRA) is a national body by and for people born with variations of sex characteristics. We promote human rights and bodily autonomy, and provide information, education, and an online peer support group. We were formerly known as OII Australia.

Our goals are to help create a society where intersex bodies are not stigmatised, and where our rights as people are recognised.
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Submission to the Law Reform Commission of WA

Coat of arms of the State of Western Australia

Debate about legal gender recognition in Western Australia has thankfully shifted the debate in Australia from one focused on the recognition of non-binary gender categories to one that questions the necessity of legal registration of sex and gender at all.

Initial response to the leak of the religious freedoms inquiry report

Religions have a long history of including intersex people (people born with sex characteristics that don’t fit medical or social norms for female or male bodies) in marriage, ordination, and other aspects of religious and daily life. Those forms of inclusion follow particular rules, and they don’t allow for self-determination, but they are not discriminatory,…
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New papers by Morgan Carpenter on health and human rights

New papers by Morgan Carpenter on health and human rights

We are pleased to share current and recent peer-reviewed journal articles by co-executive director Morgan Carpenter, on intersex health and human rights, and an associated book chapter. The ‘normalization’ of intersex bodies and ‘othering’ of intersex identities In an open access peer-reviewed journal article and a book chapter, Morgan describes contradictions where medicine construct intersex…
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AHRC launches major consultation project: Protecting the human rights of people born with variations in sex characteristics in the context of medical interventions

AHRC launches major consultation project: Protecting the human rights of people born with variations in sex characteristics in the context of medical interventions

The Australian Human Rights Commission has launched a major project to consult on protecting the human rights of people born with variations in sex characteristics in the context of medical interventions. The project is being assisted by an expert reference group that includes directors of IHRA, AISSGA and representatives of other intersex/parent-led organisations, disability and…
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Submission: Draft revised guidelines Sexual boundaries in the doctor-patient relationship

Medical Board of Australia logo

Morgan Carpenter, for IHRA (then OIIAU), and Bonnie Hart, for the AISSGA, made a joint letter of submission in March to the Medical Board of Australia on proposed “Draft revised guidelines Sexual boundaries in the doctor-patient relationship”. Intersex variations (often contentiously termed “disorders of sex development” in clinical settings) relate to personal sex characteristics, and…
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My Health Records

My Health Record logo

At present, a minority of Australian have digital health records, and such records are not used routinely. As the number of people with digital records increases, it is likely that they will increasingly be used as a way of documenting and tracking our health. The implementation of the government’s national My Health Records scheme for…
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Reports of new IAAF rules on athletes with intersex variations

There is agreement that men have a performance advantage over women in athletics. However, there is no scientific consensus that women with intersex traits have any such performance advantage, or any consistent, non-arbitrary advantage at all. Data produced by the IAAF is contested, and its new rules appear to be selectively implemented: affecting only a…
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