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Tasmania's Supreme Court has quashed a tribunal decision that would have forced a museum to allow men to enter its women-only "Ladies' Lounge".
In March, New South Wales' man Jason Lau brought an anti-discrimination case against Hobart's Museum of Old and New Art (Mona) after being denied entry to the lounge last year, and initially won in Tasmania's appeals tribunal.
But that decision has today been quashed by Acting Justice Shane Marshall, and sent back to the tribunal for reconsideration.
Kirsha Kaechele and supporters threw the Supreme Court judgment into the air and then walked all over it. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)
He found the lounge was designed to promote equal opportunity for women generally, and so it could lawfully exclude men.
Acting Justice Marshall found the discrimination experienced by women was not just confined to the past, but occurs today as well, and so women should be able to create an "exclusive space" to create a "flipped universe".
"The correct approach … is to ask first whether the arrangement's purpose was to promote equal opportunity," he wrote.
"On the evidence, the unequivocal answer is 'yes' because the Ladies' Lounge was designed to provide women with an exclusive space where they receive positive advantage as distinct from the general societal disadvantage they experience."
Kirsha Kaechele and supporters performed outside the court house in Hobart after the decision. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)
'Celebration certainly due', curator says
Artist and Ladies' Lounge creator Kirsha Kaechele described it as a win for women.
"I'm very inspired by the occurrences in the courtroom today. In 30 seconds the patriarchy was smashed," she said.
"The verdict demonstrates a simple truth: Women are better than men."
The decision means the Tasmanian tribunal TASCAT will now need to reconsider its original decision, with the Supreme Court finding in favour of Mona's arguments. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)
Should the tribunal, when it considers the case again, ultimately overturn its original decision, Ms Kaechele said she would announce her plans for the lounge.
"Something will happen with the Ladies' Lounge, yes, there are plans in the works," she said.
"Some kind of celebration is certainly due.
"We will definitely be inviting women to come and celebrate with us."
Kirsha Kaechele says they will find a way to celebrate the decision. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)
Judge finds 'societal gender bias still exists'
The case itself came down to an interpretation of one section in Tasmania's Anti-Discrimination Act:
"A person may discriminate against another person in any program, plan or arrangement designed to promote equal opportunity for a group of people who are disadvantaged or have a special need because of a prescribed attribute."
In his original decision, TASCAT deputy president Richard Grueber found that the idea that the Ladies Lounge was designed to promote equal opportunity was "somewhat inconsistent".
He found that, in modern times, women generally no longer face exclusion to spaces that they experienced in the past, and so Mona wasn't responding to a specific modern problem.
Mona relied upon the 2024 International Women's Day annual report card that showed women continue to experience more sexual violence than men, earn less than men despite working more, and are more likely to reduce working hours to care for children.
Kirsha Kaechele brought her daughter Sunday to the court. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)
Acting Justice Marshall connected the current disadvantages with the need for a women-only space, and that the idea of a "Ladies Lounge" evokes memories of a time when such places existed in Australian pubs to exclude women.
"The central idea of [Mona] was that the Ladies Lounge was something designed to promote equal opportunity by providing an experience for women which could challenge societal gender bias, which still exists," he wrote.
TASCAT must now reconsider its decision based on Acting Justice Marshall's reasons for judgement.
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