In 2026 we are celebrating 100 years of Family Planning Australia.
With little more than 500 Aussie pounds and a goal to improve sexual and reproductive healthcare outcomes, we were among the first to start the conversation about contraception and family planning in Australia.
This centenary year, we’re looking back on our trailblazing history and contributions to the community, and how we’ve continued to break down barriers despite many challenges along the way.
Innovations and firsts in contraception
We opened Australia’s first birth control clinic in Martin Place, Sydney, in 1933, 40 years before it was even legal to talk about contraception on the radio.
It was also illegal to import contraceptive devices and literature containing information about contraception and spacing of children at the time. We got creative to get around this issue, lodging a successful patent application for the diaphragm in 1935.
Come 1961, and we helped bring the pill to Australia. Making the first oral contraceptive, Anovlar, available for married women. By the 70s, we were also providing birth control to unmarried people and changing the health landscape for women forever, with our clinics removing the need for husbands to give consent for the care their wives received. This was radical for the time but essential to meet the needs of the community and paved the way for the removal of “spousal consent” requirements in other health settings years later.
Today, we’re pleased to offer a wide variety of contraceptive choices at our five clinics to all people, and to bring care closer to home through our outreach services across NSW.
Education for all
We introduced sex education for adults into NSW communities in 1942 and we’re still creating education resources over 80 years later. We also run regular courses online and in-person for teachers and community workers on best practice in sex education for students of all backgrounds.
In the ‘90s, our Fact and Fantasy Files debuted, a diary of candid information about sex, relationships and health. Providing this frank and factual information sparked controversy and triggered a media storm, but also started crucial conversations about youth sexual health.
We trained the first registered nurse in Australia to insert and remove an IUD in the 2010s, one step among many we’ve taken to upskill nurses in sexual and reproductive health. We’re still running IUD training for nurses and doctors as one of the many accredited health courses we offer around NSW.
In 2025, we trained over 1,400 professionals, and more than 1 million people accessed our online resources.
Loud and proud advocacy
As early as the 1930s we were making a stir on behalf of marginalised communities. Our founders supported the advocacy of Mary Montgomerie Bennett in the 1930s and condemned government policies of Aboriginal assimilation and the NSW Aboriginal Protection policy which endorsed separating Aboriginal children from their families.
From the 1960s to 1990s we were part of the movement that fought to improve the rights of all people to access reproductive healthcare regardless of gender and marital status. In 1996 restrictive laws which required women to have their husband’s consent before having a reproductive healthcare procedure were finally removed. This was the same decade that saw us march for LGBTQ+ rights in the Sydney Mardi Gras.
In 2019 we led the NSW Pro-Choice Alliance, representing 70 plus organisations, in a campaign that supported the political push to decriminalise abortion in NSW.
Abortion is healthcare. Anyone can visit one of our clinics to get support in accessing this service, confidentially and judgement free.
The next century starts now
During our centenary we’ll be celebrating with the communities we care for, exploring our history and looking toward the next 100 years of advancing care and rights in sexual health.
Family Planning Australia champions choice, access and compassionate care for every body in every family. We are a leader in sexual and reproductive healthcare. And our work includes advocacy, education and research.
In our centenary year it’s exciting to look toward a future that is bright and bold. Sexual and reproductive health is a human right, and we believe everyone thrives in a sexually healthy world.
