Family First Victorian leader Moira Deeming has renewed the party’s call for the abolition of the Australian Human Rights Commission after Sex Discrimination Commissioner Dr Anna Cody confirmed that pregnancy and breastfeeding protections under the Sex Discrimination Act apply to biological males who identify as women and induce lactation.
Reporting in The Australian yesterday detailed Dr Cody’s evidence at Senate Estimates, where she was asked by Liberal Senator Leah Blyth whether Section 7AA of the Sex Discrimination Act – which protects women from discrimination on the grounds of breastfeeding – extends to a biological male who identifies as a woman and medically induces lactation.
Dr Cody replied: “Yes, Senator.”
Dr Cody further confirmed that employers are legally required to provide the same lactation breaks and breastfeeding facilities to such biological males as to women who breastfeed.
“This is the latest absurdity from a taxpayer-funded body that has long since abandoned biological reality and the genuine rights of women and girls,” Mrs Deeming said.
“Breastfeeding is a uniquely female biological function tied to pregnancy and childbirth.
“Pretending otherwise does not advance human rights – it erodes women’s rights. It insults mothers, confuses children, and forces employers to accommodate a medicalised imitation of female biology at public expense.”
Mrs Deeming noted this follows earlier admissions by Dr Cody, including that she does not “understand the term biological men,” and previous claims that pregnancy discrimination protections can apply to biological males identifying as women on the basis of “potential pregnancy.”
“Paying commissioners half a million dollars each per year, plus the tens of millions it costs to run the Commission, is not value for taxpayers’ money,” she said.
“Australians are funding an activist bureaucracy that works against the sex-based rights of women, undermines parental authority, and promotes contested gender ideology over evidence and common sense. That is not the advancement of genuine human rights.”
Family First has repeatedly called for the abolition of the Australian Human Rights Commission and its state counterparts, citing its interventions against women’s single-sex spaces, its dismissal of parents concerned about experimental gender treatments for minors, and its broader capture by ideology over impartiality.
“The Commission is no longer fit for purpose. It has become an anti-human rights commission,” Mrs Deeming said.
“Abolishing it – and redirecting those funds to services that actually protect children, women, and families – should be a priority for any government serious about restoring common sense and genuine human rights in Australia.
“After years of avoiding ‘culture war’ debates, it’s great to see the Liberals enter the fight, most likely prompted by Sall Grover’s courage in her Giggle v Tickle court battles.”
Family First will continue to campaign for the abolition of the AHRC and state-based human rights and equal opportunity commissions.
“Human rights commissions, state and federal, have become taxpayer-funded campaigners for radical ideology which has no relevance to the lives of families.”
