Public toilets in Griffith only have male, female and disabled persons options. Photo: Oliver Jacques.
Advocates for transgender people have called for all-gender bathrooms to be built across NSW and for male public toilets to have access to sanitary items.
The calls came in submissions to an ongoing NSW Parliamentary probe.
The Upper House inquiry into public toilets, chaired by Albury-based Greens MP Amanda Cohn, is investigating the “provision, design, accessibility and inclusivity of public toilets across New South Wales”.
Hearings, in which interested parties give their views to a committee of MPs, will continue next week.
Several public submissions to the inquiry raised the difficulties transgender and non-binary people [those whose gender falls outside the male and female categorisation] have in using public loos.
“Many [public toilets across NSW] do not provide facilities for non-binary people,” the Illawarra Shoalhaven Gender Alliance wrote in its submission.
“This presents the problem that someone who is non-binary must choose between a toilet that clearly does not match their gender presentation or one that is not equipped to provide sanitary care, e.g. a trans masculine person with a beard who needs to use a facility that has sanitary bins for personal hygiene item disposal.
“Many male designated single sex toilets do not have appropriate facilities for changing and disposal of incontinence items. Baby change and care capability are often only supplied in female designated single sex facilities.”
The group Parents for Transgender Youth Equity called for all NSW public places with toilets to be mandated to have all-gender toilet options by 2028 and all NSW schools to have all-gender toilet options by 2030.
“Many trans kids try to avoid public toilets, including school toilets, after sharing with their community who they inherently know themselves to be (after ‘coming out’),” Parents for Transgender Youth Equity wrote.
“As parents of trans youth, we have experienced some adult educators deny our children the right to access toilet facilities that best align with their gender. We can attest to our own kids developing urinary tract infections due to their avoidance (at any cost) of school toilets during the day.”
The lobby group Australian Feminists for Women’s Rights (AF4WR), however, warned about the risks of all-gender bathrooms.
“It needs to be recognised that opening up female facilities to males is discomfiting to women and girls,” AF4WR wrote.
“It is also exclusionary as women and girls often choose not to use these facilities. This can result in women’s and girls’ discomfort, at best, or self-exclusion from places, including sports facilities, as a result of their need for single-sex spaces not being met.
“As discussed above, mixed-sex facilities reduce the safety of women and girls and do not affirm the dignity of women. Prioritising the feelings of a small subset of the population but ignoring the needs of the majority is poor policy.”
ACON, a group that advocates for the LGBTQI+ community, says there should be a space for males, females and the non-binary in toilet settings, wherever possible.
“Larger toilet blocks can be designed to provide a mix of designated gender, all gender, ambulant and disability accessible bathrooms to meet the needs of all users,” ACON said in its submission.
Other issues raised in inquiry submissions included the lack of public toilet facilities in many regional areas, poor cleanliness and maintenance of loos across the state and an under-appreciation of the fact women generally take longer to go to the bathroom and may need more facilities.
The final hearing is scheduled for Monday, 7 April, and the inquiry committee will submit a report to the NSW Government with recommendations in the coming months.
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