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Following public outcry over a male student breaking girls’ sport records at a South Australian Catholic school, Senator Leah Blyth is calling for consistent, nationwide rules to ensure girls’ school competitions remain fair and biologically based.

South Australian Liberal Senator Leah Blyth has urged immediate reform to ensure fairness in girls’ school sport, after reports emerged that a transgender-identifying male student broke multiple female records at a Catholic school’s athletics event in the state earlier this year.

The incident, involving a 13-year-old student, has sparked concern among parents and students alike.

Senator Blyth responded with a media release on Monday, 12 May, stating that “inclusion” should never come at the cost of fairness or safety.

“I’m calling for urgent, nationally consistent rules to protect the integrity of girls’ school sport,” she stated on social media, where she published her media release.

“This is about safeguarding decades of progress in women’s sport,” she added. “Let’s stand up for fairness, safety, and opportunity for every girl.”

Senator Blyth has called on both education and sporting authorities to develop nationally consistent guidelines that uphold biological sex distinctions in competitive sport.

She also criticised South Australian Education Minister Blair Boyer for suggesting that school sports should not exclude transgender students from competing according to their gender identity.

“In his rush to be inclusive of one, Mr Boyer is forgetting the many,” Blyth said. “Girls deserve to know they are competing on a level playing field and that their rights to fairness are not suspended.”

She warned that policies ignoring biological reality may lead to fewer girls participating in sport, undermining decades of progress made in women’s athletics.

“This is not a fringe issue,” the Senator affirmed. “This is about the rights of every girl in South Australia’s schools.”

The Case for Sex-Based Categories in Girls’ Sport

While affirming that all students should be treated with dignity and respect in school life, Senator Blyth argued that competitive sport is a unique domain where biology matters.

“For decades, we’ve had separate male and female sporting categories for the same reason we have age groups or weight classes — to ensure fairness,” she explained.

Blyth explained that the federal Sex Discrimination Act permits single-sex competitions when strength, stamina or physique are relevant, and that the current situation demonstrates why such provisions exist.

“This isn’t about discrimination — it’s about safeguarding the right of every girl to succeed based on her talent and effort,” she added.

The Senator shared that her office has been “inundated” with messages from parents, grandparents and concerned citizens from across South Australia who feel their daughters are being let down.

“I completely understand the frustration of these parents,” she said in an interview with Peta Credlin on Sky News. “It’s not fair for [girls] to have to compete against boys who have a clear biological advantage.”

The mother of two daughters herself, Blyth expressed concern over the message being sent to young female athletes: “Girls who feel they have no chance of winning may simply walk away from sport altogether — and that would be a tragic loss.”

Cultural Forces Undermining Fairness in Girls’ Sport

Blyth called for constructive alternatives that don’t compromising fairness. She suggested mixed-gender social matches while preserving sex-based categories for formal competitions.

“We can include everyone without sacrificing the integrity of girls’ competition,” she said. “That’s what fairness looks like.”

She urged Minister Boyer to reconsider his position and encouraged schools and sporting bodies to stand firm in protecting the rights of female athletes.

Senator Blyth also pointed to a recent United Kingdom Supreme Court ruling which established the legal relevance of biological sex in the transgender debate. She believes Australia can learn from such decisions as it navigates these complex issues.

“If we can’t define what a girl or a woman is, and we’re not willing to use biology to define that, then we have no sex-based rights in this country,” Blyth stated.

While on the campaign trail, former Liberal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton affirmed the existence of two sexes and voiced concern about males competing in girls sports, but stopped short of offering any reforms on the issue.

Meanwhile, an Australian court recently imposed a two-year apprehended violence order on women’s advocate Kirralie Smith after she criticised male athletes for competing in women’s sports.

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Image courtesy of Pexels.