Abstract
Happy Holidays … Anyway
Girlie wishes all readers a happy festive season despite the fact that we know there is always a dramatic rise in domestic violence at this time of year. Organisations like women’s legal services are needed more than ever as domestic and family violence disproportionately affect women. While women’s legal services throughout Australia do a fantastic job on alleviating some of these difficulties, they all struggle to attract sufficient funding and sadly many women still can’t be reached. Last year, Women’s Legal Services Australia estimated that 52,000 women a year had to be turned away from their services because of lack of funding.
Spread the Love
In its ambitious 2025–28 strategy, Women’s Legal Service Victoria plans to shift from crisis intervention to earlier support, to improve outcomes for women and non-binary people in Victoria. The key focus is collaboration – to strengthen partnerships across the legal and family violence sectors and increase access to high-quality legal, social work and financial counselling support statewide. Women’s Legal want to ensure that, no matter where women and non-binary people live within the state, they will have access to vital legal assistance to feel safe, understood and confident to make informed choices about their legal options.
Consent and Minors
A hospital’s application to Queensland’s Supreme Court seeking permission for a pregnant 12-year-old girl to have a surgical abortion has been granted. (Kate McKenna, ‘Supreme Court gives Queensland hospital permission to perform abortion on 12yo girl’, ABC News, 24 July 2025.)
The child, E, was about nine weeks pregnant. Justice Catherine Muir said E wanted to terminate her pregnancy, and her mother was supportive but, legally, a parent cannot consent to the termination on behalf of a child. The hospital sought orders from the Court in its parens patriae jurisdiction to authorise the termination on the grounds that the child lacked capacity to provide consent.
Justice Muir said the pregnancy was a result of consensual intercourse between E and her 13-year-old boyfriend, who was aware of the pregnancy, and of the desire for the termination. E did not want her father to know because of fears he would become violent; she was supported by her mother. Justice Muir praised E for her bravery in giving evidence in court. The Court had to apply the Gillick test in deciding if E had sufficient understanding and intelligence to enable her to understand fully what was proposed. Justice Muir found the girl was able to understand the procedure and the associated risks. Justice Muir was satisfied that E was ‘competent’ and able to consent. In another case, in July 2025, a 12-year-old girl in residential care in Queensland was allowed to have an abortion after a judge found she was not capable of making the decision herself. (Tobi Loftus, ‘Supreme Court gives Queensland hospital permission to terminate 12yo girl's pregnancy’, ABC News, 13 September 2025.)
Gender Equality Targets
The Diversity Council Australia (DCA) has welcomed new gender equality laws that will accelerate progress towards fairer and more inclusive workplaces across the country. Large employers, with 500 or more employees, will be required to select three gender equality targets from a menu of numeric and action-oriented targets, setting a clear expectation that gender equality is not just an aspiration but a business priority. Employers will have three years to demonstrate progress on the targets. CEO Catherine Hunter said: ‘Evidence shows that setting clear goals and targets is one of the most effective ways to increase the representation of women and other underrepresented groups at leadership levels, which is one of a number of levers businesses can choose to improve gender equality. This world-first legislation signals that Australia is serious about gender equality, setting a new global benchmark and reinforcing our commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, in particular Goal 5, to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.’ (Diversity Council of Australia, ‘New law passed on gender equality targets for workplaces’, 28 March 2025.)