History of unisex, gender neutral toilet fights across Australia
The issue of gender-neutral toilets again ignited after it was revealed male students at a prestigious high schools were accused of intimidating females.
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The issue of gender-neutral toilets has again ignited after it was revealed in April 2024 that male students at one of Queensland’s most prestigious high schools were accused of intimidating female students.
After gender-neutral toilets were introduced for the first time at Brisbane State High, it was revealed that male students had been accused of urinating on toilet seats and sanitary bins.
It’s understood that this made the toilets unusable for female students, even if they were brave enough to go to a cubicle with groups of boys loitering outside.
In a statement, a Department of Education spokesperson confirmed that unisex toilets were located on site at the elite Brisbane school and acknowledged a “behaviour incident” had taken place at the school.
“The school continues to provide separate girls and boys toileting facilities on both campuses,” the spokesperson said.
The Department of Education was contacted for further comment.
The latest incident adds to the long list of scuffles that have broken out across Australia over the issue.
See some of the recent cases below and have your say >>>
‘Ridiculous’ unisex toilets at new high school
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk in December 2019 said she would raise the issue of shared boys and girls toilets at a new Brisbane high school directly with the Education Department, declaring boys and girls should have their own facilities.
Students were due to share gender-neutral toilet facilities at Brisbane’s new $80 million vertical high school at Fortitude Valley, in a move slammed as a “recipe for disaster”.
The Fortitude Valley State Secondary College had been specifically designed without boys’ and girls’ separate bathrooms – the first of its kind in Queensland.
The state government was ultimately forced to backflip on a gender neutral toilet block following parent and expert outcry.
School adds gender neutral pronoun signs
A Central Coast high school in September 2022 went woke with toilet signs that state “He/They” and “She/They”, prompting parental complaints and a question in the NSW parliament.
Northlakes High School, a public school near Doyalson, pinned up new posters next to their traditional single sex toilets.
But the signs sparked complaints on the local Facebook page, while One Nation MP Mark Latham quizzed Education Minister Sarah Mitchell about what he said were “LGBTIQ style pronouns”.
He said parents had raised the issue with him, concerned it would encourage boys to use girls toilets and upset that 12 to 13 year old girls would have to share toilets with 17 to 18 year old boys.
Unisex toilet rollout for Catholic schools
Queensland Catholic schools were in September 2022 recommended to install controversial unisex toilets or change room areas to support students in gender transitions, according to the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference.
The conference released a guide on gender and identity to support Catholic schools in responding to the individual social and pastoral needs of students in a “sensitive” way.
Queensland has more than 300 Catholic primary and secondary schools and more than 150,000 students.
Gender-free toilet idea raised
A Darwin council alderman in June 2018 welcomed the idea of public toilets where patrons can choose the rest room they feel best suits their gender.
Alderman Robin Knox said it was a great idea and she supported people using the bathrooms best suited to their gender identity at large events, where male and female options were available.
“I like that sort of wording, it’s not pinpointing you as different,” she said.
Girls not comfortable sharing toilets
An Adelaide high school in December 2019 faced claims girls were not eating and drinking properly to avoid using unisex toilets, and not wanting to go to school when they are menstruating.
But the Education Department said behavioural incidents in toilets at Underdale High had fallen since the unisex loos were introduced in 2018.
The grandmother of an Underdale Year 9 student said she was “appalled” by the effects on her granddaughter and her friends.
“The female students are not coping with sharing toilets with their male counterparts and as a result are not eating and drinking normally in the hope that they may not need to use the facilities,” said the woman, who spends a lot of time looking after her granddaughter.
Backlash over school’s new mixed-gender toilets
A Sydney primary school came under fire in March 2022 for building a new set of toilets that mix boys’ and girls’ cubicles in the same block, with “incensed” parents questioning the privacy and safety of the design.
The toilets at Mona Vale Public School, on the northern beaches, also featured a “unisex” cubicle, with education officials describing it “an option for inclusivity”.
The toilet block was quickly forced to undergo alterations after concerns were raised about the doors being so short and low that “young female students were exposed to privacy breaches”.
Trans and gender diverse posters plan
Hobart City Council in November 2019 flagged plans to display trans and gender-diverse posters in public toilets around the city, but only temporarily to avoid “unintended social consequences.”
Councillor Holly Ewin said the posters would give the council the opportunity to show support and solidarity with the queer community as gender-diverse people faced discrimination, harassment, and even violence, which contributed to social exclusion, stigmatisation and negative mental health.
In June 2019 council officers recommended against permanently displaying the posters, but instead including them in an annual display rotation at 10 different convenience facilities.
School opts for gender neutral toilets
Kids spying on others by clambering over and under walls, smelly urinals and gender fluid students grappling with what toilet to use prompted a Melbourne primary school to opt for gender neutral toilets in September 2019.
Brunswick East Primary School decided to embrace unisex toilets for a range of reasons including safety, privacy and hygiene.
The Brunswick East school was among a number of schools choosing gender neutral toilets, often as part of an upgrade of existing facilities.
While the Victorian Department of Education and Training said the issue of gender neutral toilets was made at local school level, the lobby group Parents Victoria welcomed the toilets.
Unisex toilets divide opinion
In 2010 it was revealed more unisex toilets were being considered by the Sunshine Coast council at Cotton Tree and Tickle Park, Coolum.
Readers were divided on whether council should construct more unisex toilets, citing safety and hygiene concerns.
An online poll showed 48 per cent of respondents would have no problems using a unisex toilet, while 29 per cent would.
Another 21 per cent said they would assess the situation depending on how badly they needed to use the toilet.
Schools opt for gender neutral toilets, language
Single-sex bathrooms and strict uniform policies were overhauled in Victorian schools in December 2022 in a bid to support transgender and non-binary students.
Springvale’s Killester College ensured student bathrooms were not labelled with female presenting signage to ensure all students feel comfortable using the facilities.
Several trans students attend the Catholic girls secondary school, where the only amenities labelled according to sex were the staff-designated bathrooms.
Mentone Girls Secondary College allowed students to wear school pants rather than dresses or skirts.
Anti gender-neutral toilet petition
A petition against the Fraser Coast Regional Council’s decision to have gender-neutral toilets at its caravan parks in February 2024 gathered thousands of signatures.
The petition was started by Scarness’s Jeanette Maynes on January 30 and had more than 3400 signatures including that of One Nation Member for Mirani Stephen Andrew.
Ms Maynes said she started the petition to protect women, mothers and girls from “perverts spying and filming over cubicles” or “predator males”.
Backlash after removing toilet doors
A high school in Adelaide in May 2021 was criticised for deciding to make its toilet blocks gender neutral by removing the doors.
In a letter to parents and caregivers, Golden Grove High School principal Peter Kuss said the school had removed two outer doors leading into its current bathroom facilities so the toilets could be more easily accessible from the foyers.
According to the letter, the upgraded toilet blocks provided students with “lockable, non-gendered, individual cubicles, with handwashing facilities included inside the cubicle, accessed directly from common spaces or open corridors”.
Unisex toilets without informing parents
A Queensland co-ed Catholic school installed unisex toilets in February 2020 without consulting parents – and the principal only alerted families after distressed children came home and complained.
The principal of St Eugene College, at Burpengary north of Brisbane, said in an email to the school’s parents two days after classes resumed that it was trialling a gender-neutral approach because it “matches what happens in family homes”.
It further outraged some parents who had no idea boys and girls in some year levels would be sharing toilets until their children complained, with one girl telling her mum: “we go to toilets with boys now”.
Residents pooh-poohs unisex public toilets
New toilet blocks featuring unisex cubicles were popping up around the Bundaberg region in 2017.
The move was something Bundaberg Regional Council said has a range of benefits, including practicality and cost effectiveness.
But the change was met with dissatisfaction by residents, who said public toilets needed to cater to everyone separately.
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