I am the Mayor of the City of Hobsons Bay, having previously served two terms as the Deputy Mayor since being elected to the council in 2008.

I am currently a member of the following local committees:

• Chair, Hobson Bay City Disability Advisory Group;
• Chair, Hobsons Bay Multicultural Advisory Group;
• Chair, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Queer Advisory Committee;
• Chair, Truganina Explosives Reserve Advisory Committee;
• Council delegate, Municipal Association of Victoria; and
• Special Planning Committee (council delegate).

Previous committee memberships include:

• Hobsons Bay Urban Planning and Development Advisory Group (Chair 2008 – 2010, community representative 2005 – 2008);
• Hobsons Bay Commercial and Audit Board (2008 – 2010);
• Police Community Consultative Committee;
• Youth Voice Committee; and
• Hobsons Bay Interfaith Network.

I am also a Bail Justice and Justice of the Peace, and was the Co-convenor of the Hobsons Bay Residents Association for five years prior to being elected to the Hobsons Bay City Council. Previous community roles includes foster carer (1996 to 2010), member of the Western Health Ethics Committee, President of the Seabrook Community Centre, President of the Genetic Support Network of Victoria, and community representative on various Victorian Ministerial Advisory Committees.  I am currently employed as a member of a Commonwealth Government Department having previously been employed by the Department of Defence.  I am also an Honorary Fellow of Victoria University (awarded in 1991).

My work as the Co-convenor of the Hobsons Bay Residents Association provides a good idea of what I believe in.  In the five years in the residents association I:

• Opposed inappropriate rate increases in Hobsons Bay (the council increased rates by 28% from 2004 to 2008);
• Represented residents at VCAT to fight various inappropriate developments including the Inland Port in Altona, a function centre for 350 people with parking for only 24 cars in Altona Meadows, and a helipad near homes in Altona;
• Represented residents at council Special Planning Committee meetings;
• Successfully campaigned to save parkland from sale;
• Successfully campaigned to retain free parking permits for residents;
• Campaigned to retain the Altona Civic Reception Centre;
• Successfully campaigned to improve pedestrian safety near Central Square Shopping Centre by the installation of pedestrian crossings;
• Lodged submissions to the council to improve community services – especially for our elderly and disabled residents;
• Campaigned for more respite care hours for the parents and guardians of children with disabilities, and for a sensory playground for children with sensory and/or developmental disabilities;
• Campaigned for improvements to local roads and footpaths;
• Advocated for improvements to shopping strips and support for local traders; and
• Assisted many residents on an individual basis on local issues.

My qualifications, training and experience have helped develop my skills to be a effective Mayor and Councillor for our local community.  People I work with know I can lead and influence with honour and integrity and make tough decisions when necessary.

Additional information…

The following is provided to help people understand who I am on a more personal level, particularly given my genetic intersex condition and some of the media articles about it.   (Note that intersex conditions are sometimes also referred to as Disorders of Sexual Development, but I like to consider them as just a variation in nature).

The first thing parents are told when a baby is born is whether the baby is a boy or a girl.  In my case, doctors weren’t sure because I was born with physical attributes of both sexes as well as missing attributes of both (i.e. a genetic intersex condition).  This means I am biologically not exclusively male or female but somewhere in between (or both).  My doctor immediately referred me to the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne who ran a number of tests including chromosomal karyotyping, hormonal analysis, a laparotomy and biopsies.  They diagnosed me with an intersex condition called “Partial Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome” and the treatment paradigm – likely elsewhere in the world – dictated that I was to be raised as a girl, any male physical attributes had to be surgically removed if possible, and I was not to be told the truth about my condition.  This was a particularly difficult time for my parents.As a result of my diagnosis I was named Antoinette and raised as a girl.  I went to Mount Saint Joseph’s Girls’ College in Altona and lived as a woman until I learned the truth about my condition and sought to find out who I would have been had the medical profession not sought to “normalise” me.  I didn’t have a gender identity issue; I just wanted to be the person nature had intended.  Frankly, after learning about my condition I felt like I was living a lie as a woman given I did not have a complete female reproductive system and was also born with some internal male organs.

After starting hormone replacement therapy to replace the hormones my testes would have produced had I not been castrated as a child, my body started to change.  My voice deepened and I started to grow hair in places where I never had hair before.  It started getting more difficult being “Antoinette” so I had my identity documentation “corrected” to state I was male.  I didn’t particularly feel male because I didn’t have all the basic male attributes and the male upbringing, but it made public life easier.  The funny thing is that my birth certificate is as wrong stating my sex as male, as it was when it classified me as female.

Years later I feel very comfortable having accepted my true nature.  I am not male or female, but both.  I am grateful for the years I lived as a woman and the insight and experiences it gave me.  I am still “Antoinette” and have now also incorporated and accepted my male (“Anthony” or “Tony”) side.  I feel whole.  I’ll continue to live as Tony but I feel I am now at a point in my life where I can celebrate being different.

I am very touched that despite my condition the Altona and Hobsons Bay community has always accepted me.  I think it shows our community is genuinely accepting and understanding of people who are different.

The following articles are just some examples of things I’ve done or articles written about me and my condition.  My personal story has also been featured twice on 60 Minutes and I continue to advocate strongly for the rights of children born with intersex conditions and their families:

• “Choosing the Right Gender”, The Age (1 February 2005)

• “He’s the Man”, 60 Minutes (4 September 2005)

• “Human rights close to home for Tony Briffa”, Hobsons Bay Weekly (2 September 2009)

• “Dilemmas when gender is uncertain”, The Australian (19 March 2005)

• “Tony Briffa goes boldly as ‘other’”, The Hobsons Bay Weekly (7 July 2010)

• “Award-winning research gives hope to children of uncertain sex”, IBM Output (Winter 2007)

• Presentation by Tony Briffa at an Anti-Discrimination Board of NSW forum at the NSW Parliament House in 2003