Sex Discrimination Commissioner Says Breastfeeding Protections Cover Men Who Induce Lactation
Australia’s Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Dr Anna Cody, has told a Senate hearing that the Sex Discrimination Act’s breastfeeding protections extend to a biological male who identifies as a woman. It is the latest in a string of answers going back to 2024 in which the Commissioner has shown her support of gender ideology.
The Answer That Set Off the Row
On Monday 26 October, at Senate estimates, Liberal Senator Leah Blyth noted that section 7AA of the Sex Discrimination Act refers to discrimination against a woman on the grounds of breastfeeding, and that the explanatory memorandum introducing the protections said they were intended to apply to women who breastfeed. She then asked Dr Cody whether the Australian Human Rights Commission interprets section 7AA as providing breastfeeding protections to a biological male who identifies as a woman and ‘induces lactation’.
Dr Cody’s answer was “Yes.” Asked whether an employer is legally required to provide lactation breaks and breastfeeding facilities to a biological male who has ‘medically induced lactation’, she replied: “They are subject to the same protections as anyone who is breastfeeding.”
No Medical Advice Sought
Senator Blyth had been pressing the Commissioner on the Commission’s new Balancing Act report, which includes material on induced lactation. The Senator told the hearing that published studies of biological males who ‘induce lactation’ are limited and largely consist of individual case reports, and asked whether the Commission had obtained independent medical advice before including it.
After several attempts to avoid a direct answer, Dr Cody said: “We did not seek medical advice.”
She also told the Senator the report’s case study “is about a woman who induced lactation”. Senator Blyth replied that the woman described is a biological man. And when pressed on whether induced lactation in a biological male should be treated like breastfeeding after pregnancy and childbirth, Dr Cody said: “Breastfeeding is widely defined within the Sex Discrimination Act, and it includes expressing milk as well as breastfeeding, as well as induced lactation.”
Breastfeeding follows pregnancy and childbirth. It is a biological reality that regulators cannot legislate away, and the Commissioner’s answer forces Australians to pretend men who can’t get pregnant or give birth can ‘breastfeed’.
Also read: Minns Backs Down and Restores “Mothers” to NSW Parliament’s Breastfeeding Policy
This Is Not a Slip. It’s a Pattern.
The breastfeeding answer is consistent with what Dr Cody has told Senate estimates, on the record, for nearly three years.
February 2024: Questioned by One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts, Dr Cody said the terms “man”, “woman” and “sex” are not defined in the Act, and that a person “can change their recognised sex through the birth certificate recognition”.
October 2025: Asked by Liberal Senator Claire Chandler whether she meant that biological males can be women, she said: “I don’t understand the term ‘biological men’.” Asked by Senator Roberts whether a piece of legislation can change a person’s sex, she said: “No, I would not agree.”
December 2025: Asked by Senator Blyth for a definition of a biological man, she said: “I’m not a medical expert. I’m a human rights advocate.” She said the Act “has an inclusive definition of ‘woman’ that includes all women”, naming “trans women”, or men who identify as ‘women’ among them.
May 2026: Asked by Senator Michaelia Cash about pregnancy protections, she said: “Clearly trans women cannot become pregnant.” She nonetheless maintained that a trans woman could be protected on the ground of “potential pregnancy” because they “may be assumed to be pregnant or to be able to be pregnant”. When asked what makes a man a trans woman under the Act, she said, “how someone dresses is one aspect of gender appearance” and that surgery is not required.
The Commissioner told Senator Cash that “biology is not the only part of what defines a man or a woman”.
Who Is the Sex Discrimination Commissioner Protecting?
The Sex Discrimination Commissioner is paid roughly $400,000 a year plus superannuation, as Dr Cody confirmed to Senator Roberts in October 2025, to advance equality for women.
But as Senator Blyth asked her in December: “How do you protect and advocate for what you can’t define?” Her answer was to point to her advocacy on workplace sexual harassment and violence. Women across Australia are entitled to expect more from the person charged with defending them, and to expect her to be able to identify what a woman is.
What You Can Do Now
The Commissioner will not answer these questions, so we must ask them of Parliament.
Only Parliament can put biological reality back into the law and remove gender ideology. If you believe men are men and women are women, then sign our petition here.
Last updated: 2 November 2026 05:26