South Australian councils asked to remove gendered pronouns, including the words he and she, from their by-laws

Ratepayers would foot the bill for by-law rewrites in every SA council to remove words like “he” and “she”, under the latest calls from North Terrace. Do you agree?

Local councils have been asked by a state parliament committee to remove gendered pronouns, including the words he and she, from their by-laws – at their own expense.

The Legislative Review Committee, which scrutinises council by-laws, has written to multiple councils saying “the committee’s preference is for by-laws to use gender-neutral language rather than gender-specific language”.

Councils that have received a letter include Walkerville, Prospect, Playford and Wakefield.

Among the by-laws identified by the committee as containing problematic language are “a person may enter any dog off leash area for the purpose of exercising a dog under his or her control” and “a person must not … ask for or receive or indicate that he or she desires a donation”.

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The letters, signed by current committee chair Labor MLC Irene Pnevmatikos, ask council chief executives to consider the request and indicate whether their council would be prepared to make the amendments.

Publicly available by-laws of each of those four councils show the recommendation has not been implemented, however some have indicated a willingness to make the changes.

Current Legislative Review Committee chair Irene Pnevmatikos. Picture: Supplied

Opposition local government spokesman Sam Telfer. Picture: Arj Ganesan

The cost of amending a by-law is covered by the council. The process involves preparation of a draft, public consultation, obtaining legal advice, passing the by-law and publishing it in the Government Gazette.

Other members of the current committee are Labor’s John Fulbrook and Tony Piccolo, Liberals Sam Telfer and Laura Henderson and SA-Best MLC Connie Bonaros.

Mr Telfer, the opposition’s local government spokesman, said he could not comment on committee debates because they were confidential.

But he said the Liberal Party “constantly opposed the forced implementation of gender-neutral language in council by-laws and respects the capacity of councils to make their own decisions”.

However, Ms Pnevmatikos said the issue of gendered language arose during an inquiry into age limits on children entering public toilets of the opposite gender with their parents.

She said then-chair of the committee, Liberal Nicola Centofanti, wrote to the then-Minister for Planning and Local Government, Liberal Josh Teague, in February 2022 to outline the committee’s concerns regarding gendered language in by-laws.

“The absence of a dissenting report would illustrate the Liberals’ current contradictory stance,” she said.

Last week it was revealed the committee had recommended councils change their by-laws to allow transgender, intersex and gender diverse people to choose which public toilet they use.

It also said age limits on children entering toilets of the opposite gender with their parents should be removed, and instead anyone “vulnerable” should be allowed entry.

But the advice has so far gone largely unheeded, with just two councils having made the changes.