Webinar: Brain-sex binary and the law
Aileen Kennedy speaks in this webinar on how judges make decisions about the nature of sex and gender. This is the first in a regular webinar series and was recorded on 30 June 2021.
Legal (page 2 of 6)
Articles about legal cases and judgements, and policing matters. Read our briefing papers on bodily integrity, discrimination, identification documents and detention
Carpenter: intersex people and the Yogyakarta Principles
Morgan Carpenter writes in capacity as a member of the drafting committee and a signatory of the Yogyakarta Principles plus 10, outlining the significance of the Principles to intersex people.
We welcome the Tasmanian Law Reform Institute inquiry report
IHRA welcomes the report of the Tasmanian Law Reform Institute on “legal recognition of sex and gender”. In particular, we warmly welcome recommendations in relation to medical procedures on children with intersex variations.
Statement on intersex and abortion law reform
This statement follows press reports in the Daily Telegraph, suggesting that NSW Finance Minister Damien Tudehope will introduce a proposed amendment to a bill decriminalising abortion in the NSW Legislative Council to prohibit terminations on grounds of sex or intersex traits. IHRA has a longstanding position on the use of IVF technologies and terminations. We…
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NSW Judicial Commission report on equality before the law
Our societies have accepted a binary construct between male and female which does not reflect Nature and the enormous variety of possible sexes which overlap one another in various gradations on a spectrum.
Kirby Institute lecture by Morgan Carpenter
A recording of a 2019 lecture by co-executive director Morgan Carpenter at the Kirby Institute, UNSW, on “medical and legal contradictions on the meaning and needs of intersex people”.
Tasmania: unfinished business
IHRA welcomes aspects of the Justice and Related Legislation (Marriage Amendments) Bill 2018, that has been passed by the Tasmanian Parliament. In particular, insertion of the attribute of “sex characteristics” in law is very welcome. However, we note that anti-discrimination protections on grounds of sex characteristics only apply to persons with intersex variations of sex…
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Detention
A briefing on issues affecting people with innate variations of sex characteristics in detention settings.
Discrimination
A briefing on discrimination issues affecting people with innate variations of sex characteristics due to our bodies, identities, or assumptions about our identities.
Submission to the ALRC on reform of the family law system
IHRA has made a submission to the Australian Law Reform Commission regarding its discussion paper on reform of the family law system, with a focus on reform of the welfare jurisdiction to ensure that children with intersex variations and persons with disabilities are protected from harmful practices.
Submissions to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child
IHRA has made a submission to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, kindly endorsed by the AIS Support Group Australia, Disabled People’s Organisations of Australia, National LGBTI Health Alliance, and People with Disability Australia. As a member of the Australian Child Rights Taskforce, IHRA also participated in the development and submission of a joint shadow report.
Appropriating ‘DSD’ as a way for trans people to access surgery
Over recent years we’ve commented on appropriation of intersex by multiple different groups of gender diverse people, including based on the harmful idea that being intersex ‘messes with the system‘, the harmful idea that being transgender is a form of ‘brain intersex‘, and the harmful idea that intersex is a non-binary gender. We know these…
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