UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls

Question

1. Has Australia provided any written or verbal response to the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, Ms Reem Alsalem, regarding her correspondence about Tickle v Giggle? 2. If no response was provided, who made the decision not to respond and on what date? 3. Was the Prime Minister's Office consulted on whether a response should be provided? 4. Is it standard practice for Australia not to respond to correspondence from UN Special Rapporteurs concerning potential treaty compliance issues? 5. How many communications from UN Special Rapporteurs over the past five years have received no substantive response from Australia? 6. What criteria does DFAT use to determine whether correspondence from a UN Special Rapporteur requires a response? 7. Why was Ms Alsalem's letter characterised internally as a "courtesy letter"? 8. Does DFAT accept that Ms Alsalem's correspondence raised questions about Australia's compliance with international obligations under CEDAW? 9. Was any legal advice sought regarding the concerns raised by the Special Rapporteur? 10. Did any agency recommend that Australia provide a response to Ms Alsalem? 11. Did DFAT undertake any assessment of whether the Federal Court decision in Tickle v Giggle is consistent with Australia's obligations under CEDAW? 12. If such an assessment was undertaken, which agency led it? 13. Was the Attorney-General's Department asked to provide advice on the compatibility of the decision with CEDAW? 14. Did any agency identify concerns regarding the impact of the decision on female-only spaces, services or programs? 15. What consideration was given to the Special Rapporteur's warning that sex-based protections may be undermined if gender identity supersedes sex in law? 16. Can officials identify any UN treaty body recommendation that expressly states female-only spaces should be interpreted solely through gender identity rather than biological sex? 17. Internal records refer to "Australia not to provide a submission" to the Special Rapporteur's call for inputs on sex-based violence against women and girls. Who made that decision? 18. Which agencies were consulted before that decision was made? 19. How many Special Rapporteur questionnaires has Australia responded to in the past four years? 20. Does DFAT consider sex-based violence against women and girls to be an issue warranting Australian engagement at the UN level? 21. Does DFAT accept that the public has a legitimate interest in understanding Australia's position on sex-based rights under international law? 22. Can DFAT provide details of any submissions, briefings, talking points, or ministerial advice prepared in relation to Ms Alsalem's correspondence, reports, or questionnaires?

Answer

Please see attached answer.

Documents

• Question with answer (PDF) (opens in a new tab)
• 145.pdf (opens in a new tab)
• Q737-744.pdf (opens in a new tab)