Australian Sex Party

Australian Sex Party
LeaderFiona Patten
Founded2009
Dissolved22 August 2017
Merged intoReason Party
Headquarters10 Ipswich St
Fyshwick ACT 2609
Think tankEros Association
IdeologySex positivity
Civil libertarianism
Progressivism
Secular liberalism
Political positionCentre-left
Colours  Yellow   Red
Victorian Legislative Council
1 / 40
(2014−2017)

The Australian Sex Party was an Australian political party founded in 2009 in response to concerns over the purported increasing influence of religion in Australian politics.[1][2] The party was born out of an adult-industry lobby group, the Eros Association. Its leader, Fiona Patten, was formerly the association's CEO.[3]

Patten described the party as a "civil libertarian alternative".[4] Patten is a veteran campaigner on issues such as censorship, equality, and discrimination.[5][6] Patten was elected to the Victorian Legislative Council at the 2014 state election.

The party was briefly federally deregistered by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) on 5 May 2015, after an audit found that it could not demonstrate that it met the statutory requirement of 500 members but was re-registered in July.[7][8]

The Sex Party was registered at state level in Victoria, where it had parliamentary representation, as well as in the Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory. In 2017, the party merged with the Australian Cyclists Party to form Reason Australia.[9][10]

  1. ^ Bennett, Lucy (17 November 2008). "Australian Sex Party launches on Thursday". The Australian. Archived from the original on 18 December 2008. Retrieved 15 March 2008.
  2. ^ "Sex flirts with politics", Herald Sun, 16 November 2008.
  3. ^ "Eros".
  4. ^ Gardiner, Ashley (15 November 2010). "Sex Party hopes to make history and win an Upper House seat in state election". Herald Sun.
  5. ^ "People Trafficking, Human Security and Development". Australian National University. 29 August 2004. Archived from the original on 18 February 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
  6. ^ Syvret, Paul (8 December 2009). "Australian Sex Party a dark horse in federal politics". The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
  7. ^ "Australian Electoral Commission: Australian Sex Party". AEC.gov.au. 10 August 2015.
  8. ^ "Sex Party Rises Again". Australian Sex Party. 24 July 2015. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015.
  9. ^ "The Australian Cyclists Party Closes (and promotes alternative broad issue party)". Bicycles Network Australia. 4 September 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  10. ^ Preiss, Benjamin (22 August 2017). "Australian Sex Party to become the Reason Party". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 11 July 2019.