Everything about the Sex Party is unique in Australian politics.

We’re the first party to have come out of an industry association. We’re the first party to be convened by a woman who was then elected to public office. We were the first party to call for a Royal Commission into child sex abuse in the church and we’re the first party to have a leader who owns her recreational use of marijuana. And then there’s our name….

The party was officially born in 2009 from the Eros Association, Australia’s adult goods and services industry association and a small business/anti-censorship lobby group. The issue that ultimately pushed us from the wings was the Labor government’s call for an internet filter but other conservative moves on abortion, dope, marriage, immigration and the environment were equally important.

The 2013 federal election saw the party nearly win a Senate seat. In 2014, the party’s leader, Fiona Patten, was elected to the Victorian Parliament on a civil liberties/personal freedom ticket.

Since then she has had one of the most successful first terms of any cross-bencher in the history of the Victorian Parliament by initiating a raft of socially progressive actions. These include:

  • Legislation to stop protestors outside Victorian abortion clinics
  • Legislation to legalise ride sharing services in Victoria
  • The setting up of a parliamentary Committee to reform the state’s dying with dignity laws
  • The setting up of a parliamentary Committee to enquire into reform of the state’s drug laws

She is a member of four parliamentary committees and is an acting Deputy President of the Upper House.

The party’s focus continues to evolve. We believe the Left have lost their activist roots. Most right wing alternative parties are based on fear and loathing without any constructive policies for business or revenue raising. There is now a genuine need for an alternative centrist party that takes in progressive attitudes to environmental, immigration, drugs, birth, death, religion and tax issues with a more pragmatic and less ideological stance. That’s us baby!

The party runs campaigns at federal, Victorian and ACT elections and is looking to expand into all states and local government levels.

Come on board and have a look around. We don’t have all the answers but we ask a lot of questions. We don’t mind window shoppers and tyre kickers either. We’re all volunteers and always looking to expand our horizons.