Breastfeeding and the Law

I thought I would just put a little something here about the rights of breastfeeding mothers in the context of the law in Australia.

It is every woman's right to breastfeed where ever her baby needs to be fed.  That may be on a park bench, in a shopping centre, on a bus, public swimming pool or the corner store. Someone could ask a woman who is breastfeeding in public to stop, however it is the woman's choice whether she does stop or not.

Each state in Australia has their own law own this topic.  Most of them state -  Breastfeeding is a protected attribute. Discrimination on the basis of breastfeeding is explicitly illegal in all areas of public life.

  It is illegal in Australia to discriminate against a person either directly or indirectly on the grounds of breastfeeding under the federal Sex Discrimination Act 1984.

In another time and place we will think it preposterous to have a law to protect breastfeeding.

 

This link to the Australian Breastfeeding Association spells it out more clearly for anyone wanting to read more.

 

https://www.breastfeeding.asn.au/bf-info/breastfeeding-and-law/legalright