The inmate, biologically male and without gender-affirming surgery, was arrested last year and remanded to Bandyup Women’s Prison north of Perth after changing his birth certificate under WA’s 2025 self-identification laws.
Officials segregated him immediately due to safety concerns in the overcrowded jail, with Minister Paul Papalia affirming that non-surgical transgender inmates stay isolated from the general population.
Now on bail awaiting trial, he could return to a women’s prison if convicted, prompting activists like Sall Grover and Katherine Deves to call for stricter rules protecting female inmates.