Australia’s NSW State Parliament call on IAD 2014


On November 11, the Legislative Council (upper house) of the New South Wales State Parliament called for implementation of the 2013 federal Senate report on “Involuntary or coerced sterilisation of intersex people in Australia”. The motion, which passed without a vote, was proposed by Mehreen Faruqi. It reads:

INTERSEX AWARENESS DAY

Motion by Dr MEHREEN FARUQI agreed to:

That this House notes that:
(a) Intersex Awareness Day is recognised on 26 October every year,

(b) people with intersex variations face lifelong discrimination and stigmatisation for their sex differences,

(c) intersex people, particularly children, are often subject to disturbing and invasive medical interventions to “correct” their sex differences,

(d) there are serious human rights concerns with the way that intersex people are currently considered and treated by the medical community and in general, and

(e) broader social awareness of intersex variations remains drastically underdeveloped, and this must change.

That this House calls on the Government to:
(a) acknowledge the human rights of people with intersex variations, and

(b) work with the Australian Government to implement the recommendations of the 2013 Australian Senate Community Affairs Committee report on the ‘Involuntary or coerced sterilisation of intersex people in Australia’.

Read at the NSW Parliament site