Emma and Sue unpack Janet Fraser’s journey from second‑wave roots and lesbian organising in the ’90s to founding Joyous Birth after a traumatic hospital transfer, being branded for saying ‘birthing women’, and finishing law to fight for female‑only spaces and legal clarity.

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Donate

If you wish to donate to AAWAA you can do so by making a direct deposit or bank transfer to:

• Account name: Affiliation of Australian Women’s Advocacy Alliances
• Account number: 04201471
• BSB: 325-185

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Disclosure statement

Voices in this podcast are AI-generated clones of real, named AAWAA members, created and used with their informed consent to help amplify women's words and stories. All scripts and spoken content are written by AAWAA women, and all editorial judgement, fact-checking, and production decisions remain entirely human. AI is used only to voice this content: never to generate, alter, or invent what is said. Learn more at womensadvocacy.net.

This podcast provides general information and opinion only and does not constitute legal advice. Listeners should seek independent, professional legal advice before acting on any matters discussed. The hosts and AAWAA accept no liability for decisions made based on this content.

Emma hosts Amber and Martine to unpack Western Australia’s surrogacy ‘reform’: how an industry‑led process sidelined women’s voices, abolished ex‑ante safeguards, and bundled ART with surrogacy to fast‑track a market‑friendly law. Amber lays out the process failures and what the Bill changes; Martine maps the advocacy strategy in the Council—committee referral, reinstating pre‑conception approvals, raising surrogate protections, and splitting ART from surrogacy—so lawmakers can restore scrutiny and protect women and girls.

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Donate

If you wish to donate to AAWAA you can do so by making a direct deposit or bank transfer to:

• Account name: Affiliation of Australian Women’s Advocacy Alliances
• Account number: 04201471
• BSB: 325-185

__

Disclosure statement

Voices in this podcast are AI-generated clones of real, named AAWAA members, created and used with their informed consent to help amplify women's words and stories. All scripts and spoken content are written by AAWAA women, and all editorial judgement, fact-checking, and production decisions remain entirely human. AI is used only to voice this content: never to generate, alter, or invent what is said. Learn more at womensadvocacy.net.

This podcast provides general information and opinion only and does not constitute legal advice. Listeners should seek independent, professional legal advice before acting on any matters discussed. The hosts and AAWAA accept no liability for decisions made based on this content.

Emma hosts Amber and Lucy for a ground-level look at how exclusion of women from consultation is producing bad law across Australia. From WA’s industry‑driven ART and surrogacy bill and fast‑tracked sex self‑ID law, to NSW’s predetermined ‘equality’ process and bundling ART with surrogacy, to QLD’s token consultation windows, they unpack why this breaches CEDAW Article 7 and ICCPR participation rights, and how it leads to regulatory capture, legal uncertainty, and harm to women and girls. The episode sets out concrete fixes: separate surrogacy from ART, end curated stakeholder lists, restore independent reviews and full committee scrutiny, and centre women’s advocacy in every stage of law‑making.

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Donate

If you wish to donate to AAWAA you can do so by making a direct deposit or bank transfer to:

• Account name: Affiliation of Australian Women’s Advocacy Alliances
• Account number: 04201471
• BSB: 325-185

__

Disclosure statement

Voices in this podcast are AI-generated clones of real, named AAWAA members, created and used with their informed consent to help amplify women's words and stories. All scripts and spoken content are written by AAWAA women, and all editorial judgement, fact-checking, and production decisions remain entirely human. AI is used only to voice this content: never to generate, alter, or invent what is said. Learn more at womensadvocacy.net.

This podcast provides general information and opinion only and does not constitute legal advice. Listeners should seek independent, professional legal advice before acting on any matters discussed. The hosts and AAWAA accept no liability for decisions made based on this content.

Emma and Megan discuss AAWAA's direct questioning of the Sex Discrimination Commissioner at the National Press Club about her powers, obligations, and the systematic exclusion of women's advocacy groups from sex and gender policy consultations. They explore the Commissioner's claim that CEDAW has been reinterpreted to include all 'versions' of woman, the lack of public accountability around this change, and why women's sexed-based protections and rights cannot be quietly displaced through administrative redefinition. This episode examines the Commission's statutory duties under Section 11 of the AHRC Act and calls for genuine consultation with women's organisations on policies that directly affect us.

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Donate

If you wish to donate to AAWAA you can do so by making a direct deposit or bank transfer to:

• Account name: Affiliation of Australian Women’s Advocacy Alliances
• Account number: 04201471
• BSB: 325-185

__

Disclosure statement

Some voices in this podcast are AI-generated clones of real, named AAWAA members, created and used with their informed consent to help amplify women's words and stories. All scripts and spoken content are written by AAWAA women, and all editorial judgement, fact-checking, and production decisions remain entirely human. AI is used only to voice this content: never to generate, alter, or invent what is said. Learn more at womensadvocacy.net.

This podcast provides general information and opinion only and does not constitute legal advice. Listeners should seek independent, professional legal advice before acting on any matters discussed. The hosts and AAWAA accept no liability for decisions made based on this content.

Emma and Luci examine the Women’s Action Alliance Tasmania’s call on the Tasmanian Government for the abolition of prostitution and urgent law reform. They unpack the landmark UN report on prostitution as violence, discuss the ongoing harm and demand created by advertising in Tasmanian media, and explain the link between prostitution and the institutional child sexual abuse exposed by the state’s recent inquiry.

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Donate

If you wish to donate to AAWAA you can do so by making a direct deposit or bank transfer to:

• Account name: Affiliation of Australian Women’s Advocacy Alliances
• Account number: 04201471
• BSB: 325-185

__

Disclosure statement

Voices in this podcast are AI-generated clones of real, named AAWAA members, created and used with their informed consent to help amplify women's words and stories. All scripts and spoken content are written by AAWAA women, and all editorial judgement, fact-checking, and production decisions remain entirely human. AI is used only to voice this content: never to generate, alter, or invent what is said. Learn more at womensadvocacy.net.

This podcast provides general information and opinion only and does not constitute legal advice. Listeners should seek independent, professional legal advice before acting on any matters discussed. The hosts and AAWAA accept no liability for decisions made based on this content.

Emma and Amber put the Australian Human Rights Commission under the spotlight, questioning its shift away from meaningful, sexed-based protections for women and girls. From legal battles and lost consultation to confusion for services and sport, they expose how policy changes and reinterpretations have left women’s rights on shaky ground. Is Parliament the only answer for restoring clarity and accountability?

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Donate

If you wish to donate to AAWAA you can do so by making a direct deposit or bank transfer to:

• Account name: Affiliation of Australian Women’s Advocacy Alliances
• Account number: 04201471
• BSB: 325-185

__

Disclosure statement

Voices in this podcast are AI-generated clones of real, named AAWAA members, created and used with their informed consent to help amplify women's words and stories. All scripts and spoken content are written by AAWAA women, and all editorial judgement, fact-checking, and production decisions remain entirely human. AI is used only to voice this content: never to generate, alter, or invent what is said. Learn more at womensadvocacy.net.

This podcast provides general information and opinion only and does not constitute legal advice. Listeners should seek independent, professional legal advice before acting on any matters discussed. The hosts and AAWAA accept no liability for decisions made based on this content.

In this episode, Emma and Sue explore the life of Merike Johnson—a refugee, scientist and feminist trailblazer—tracing her journey from a post-war German camp to leading women’s activism in Australia, building refuges, challenging discriminatory laws, and warning of the dangers when ‘sex’ is erased from science, statistics, or language, all while inspiring others with her resilience, humour and focus on women's rights.

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Donate

If you wish to donate to AAWAA you can do so by making a direct deposit or bank transfer to:

• Account name: Affiliation of Australian Women’s Advocacy Alliances
• Account number: 04201471
• BSB: 325-185

__

Disclosure statement

Voices in this podcast are AI-generated clones of real, named AAWAA members, created and used with their informed consent to help amplify women's words and stories. All scripts and spoken content are written by AAWAA women, and all editorial judgement, fact-checking, and production decisions remain entirely human. AI is used only to voice this content: never to generate, alter, or invent what is said. Learn more at womensadvocacy.net.

This podcast provides general information and opinion only and does not constitute legal advice. Listeners should seek independent, professional legal advice before acting on any matters discussed. The hosts and AAWAA accept no liability for decisions made based on this content.

Emma and Luci examine Scotland’s pioneering Prostitution (Offences and Support) Bill and what it means for the rights, safety, and dignity of women and girls everywhere. They provide a serious, evidence-driven analysis of why shifting criminal accountability to sex buyers, restoring justice for women criminalised by exploitation, and mandating state assistance are vital reforms. Drawing on AAWAA’s submission to the Scottish Parliament and the call for stronger action in Australia—including a National Apology—this discussion sets out a feminist blueprint for principled law reform, survivor support, and lasting change.

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Donate

If you wish to donate to AAWAA you can do so by making a direct deposit or bank transfer to:

• Account name: Affiliation of Australian Women’s Advocacy Alliances
• Account number: 04201471
• BSB: 325-185

__

Disclosure statement

Voices in this podcast are AI-generated clones of real, named AAWAA members, created and used with their informed consent to help amplify women's words and stories. All scripts and spoken content are written by AAWAA women, and all editorial judgement, fact-checking, and production decisions remain entirely human. AI is used only to voice this content: never to generate, alter, or invent what is said. Learn more at womensadvocacy.net.

This podcast provides general information and opinion only and does not constitute legal advice. Listeners should seek independent, professional legal advice before acting on any matters discussed. The hosts and AAWAA accept no liability for decisions made based on this content.

In this episode, Emma is joined by Martine to recount the rise and fall of Australia’s proposed misinformation legislation. They explore how a solitary, principled submission exposed vague definitions and weak safeguards, sparking parliamentary scrutiny that ultimately led to the bill’s withdrawal. Listeners will learn how evidence-based arguments and early intervention can turn the tide on poorly drafted laws

This podcast provides general information and opinion only and does not constitute legal advice. Listeners should seek independent, professional legal advice before acting on any matters discussed. The hosts and AAWAA accept no liability for decisions made based on this content.

In this episode, Emma and Amber examine the government’s claims about “engaging stakeholders” and reveal how those of us most affected—women and girls—are routinely left out. We unpack the consequences of this exclusion, explore recent legal and policy developments eroding sexed-based protections, and call for a return to genuine consultation that puts our voices at the heart of decision-making. Join us for clear evidence, sharp analysis, and a rallying cry for real representation in women’s policy.

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Donate

If you wish to donate to AAWAA you can do so by making a direct deposit or bank transfer to:

• Account name: Affiliation of Australian Women’s Advocacy Alliances
• Account number: 04201471
• BSB: 325-185

__

Disclosure statement

Voices in this podcast are AI-generated clones of real, named AAWAA members, created and used with their informed consent to help amplify women's words and stories. All scripts and spoken content are written by AAWAA women, and all editorial judgement, fact-checking, and production decisions remain entirely human. AI is used only to voice this content: never to generate, alter, or invent what is said. Learn more at womensadvocacy.net.

This podcast provides general information and opinion only and does not constitute legal advice. Listeners should seek independent, professional legal advice before acting on any matters discussed. The hosts and AAWAA accept no liability for decisions made based on this content.