Australian activist and legal academic (born 1983)
Joanna Howe (born 28 March 1983) is an Australian activist and Professor of Law at the Adelaide University. Joanna Howe is an expert in temporary labour migration and an Oxford graduate.
Joanna Howe is most notable for her campaigning and lobbying against abortion, including legislative proposals in South Australia by Ben Hood and Sarah Game to restrict abortion access. Joanna has been accused of threatening and bullying behaviour during her campaigning across both New South Wales[1] and South Australia[2], the latter resulting in her being banned from parts of South Australian Parliament House[3].
Joanna Howe is currently under investigation for running a bingo-style game based on a 2025 parliamentary debate after being referred for investigation by the South Australian Attorney-General Kyam Maher MLC[4].
Biography
Joanna Howe was born on 28 March 1983.[5] She has described herself as an immigrant.[6] Howe studied as a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford, receiving a doctorate of philosophy in law.[7] Howe is an expert in the field of temporary labour migration.[8] She has led a report by the University of Adelaide on exploitation in the horticulture industry,[9] and participated in an International Labour Organization scholars' workshop on temporary labour migration in November 2019.[10][11] Alongside Martin Parkinson and John Azarias, Howe conducted an inquiry into the immigration system, which was commissioned by Clare O'Neil, the Home Affairs minister, in November 2022.[12][13] The report was released in April 2023, and stated that Australia's migration system would require major reform, and advised that a rise in "permanently temporary" migration be curbed.[14] Howe featured on InDaily's 40 under 40 list in 2022.[6][15] Howe is currently a professor of law at the University of Adelaide.[7] Howe is married with five children.[16] Howe is a member of the Labor Party, and was formerly employed with the Australian Workers' Union.[17][18]
Joanna is a practicing Catholic.[19] Joanna Howe served a volunteer year of mission for Youth Mission Team Australia (a Catholic youth ministry organisation), where she met her now husband. Joanna serves on the board of Youth Mission Team Australia[20]. Joanna also regularly run workshops at national Catholic events[21].
Howe filed an application with the Fair Work Commission in June 2024 against the University of Adelaide, seeking an order for the dismissal of complaints against her research on abortion and prostitution on academic freedom grounds.[22]
Joanna Howe has been fact checked on claims made while lobbying against abortion on multiple occasions. In 2019, RMIT ABC Fact Check found Joanna was wrong to claim "abortions after 20 weeks increased 39 per cent in Victoria post-decriminalisation"[1]. In 2025, AAP Fact Check found Joanna's claim that Christian Hospitals would be forced to shut-down by legislation to improve abortion access across New South Wales was "false"[2].
Anti-abortion activism
Howe was involved in the July 2022 formation of the Enid Lyons List, an anti-abortion group which aims to elect young women to political office.[23][24]
Howe supported a bill by South Australian Liberal MP Ben Hood that would have required those seeking an abortion after 28 weeks to undergo induced labour.[25][26] She was described by The Guardian as being "the architect" of the proposal.[27] The bill failed to pass in the Legislative Council, with MPs in October 2024 voting ten to nine in the negative.[28] A pairing agreement between Michelle Lensink, who opposed the bill, and Jing Lee, who supported it, was terminated by Lee after she states she was targeted by Joanna[29]. Following the vote, Howe made social media posts on Instagram and X describing seven politicians and advocates, all women who had opposed the bill,[a] as baby-killers, using illustrations in the style of the book series The Baby-Sitters Club, but instead captioned with "The Baby Killers Club".[27][30]Terry Stephens, President of the Legislative Council, banned Howe from attending either the public or private gallery of the Legislative Council indefinitely, stating that members of the legislature had witnessed Howe using "threatening and intimidating tactics".[31]
In a May 2025 parliamentary debate on a proposal by New South Wales Greens MLC Amanda Cohn to expand access to abortion (which passed[32]), Liberal leader Mark Speakman stated that Howe had emailed him, promising to lead a public campaign calling for his removal as leader if he supported the bill.[33][34] Subsequent media reports following the debate detailed both NSW Premier Chris Minns and Opposition Leader Mark Speakman accusing Joanna of spreading an “enormous amount of misinformation” and "threatening politicians"[35].
Writing for The Sydney Morning Herald, Alexandra Smith described Howe as an "anti-abortion influencer" who was using "a Trump-style of politics" in her advocacy against the Cohn proposal.[17] In the aftermath of Speakman's comments, Tory Shepherd of The Guardian reported that a number of state and federal MPs had received abusive messages after being targeted by Howe on social media.[36] Prudence Flowers, a lecturer at Flinders University and member of the South Australian Abortion Action Coalition, said in The Conversation that Howe's posts on social media were "often adversarial", reflecting a broader shift of "Australian anti-abortionists" towards bolder and more confrontational language, downstream from the 2022 Supreme Court of the United States decision that overturned Roe v. Wade.[37]
Howe assisted MP Sarah Game in drafting a bill to restrict abortions in South Australia after 23 weeks.[38] The bill was defeated in November 2025 by a vote of eleven to eight in the Legislative Council.[39] Lee, who had voted for Hood's proposal restricting abortion, voted against the Game bill.[40] In the month leading up to the vote on the Game proposal, Howe spent $95,976 advertising through Meta, making her the third-largest spender in Australia on Meta advertising, behind UNICEF and Greenpeace Australia Pacific.[41] Amidst the vote on the bill, Howe hosted a game on her website, encouraging followers to buy words and phrases at costs ranging between $1 and $70.[42] She described the phrases as "the cliched, predictable and evil language used by pro-abortion politicians".[43] The game served as a fundraiser for Howe's anti-abortion lobbying, with prizes including cash vouchers and dinner with Howe and her husband.[42][43]Kyam Maher, the Attorney-General of South Australia, has stated that he plans to refer the game to Consumer and Business Services, citing concerns with lottery regulation compliance.[44]
As well as being banned from parts of South Australian Parliament House for threats and intimidation[45], Joanna also reportedly targeted other academics from Flinders University making them feel unsafe[46].
Views on transgender issues
In November 2023, Frank Pangallo MLC introduced a motion to the South Australian Legislative Council to enquire into the health care provided to young people seeking services for gender dysphoria. [47][48] Premier Peter Malinauskas opposed the motion. [49] According to OutInPerth, Howe expressed her disappointment on the Sky News Outsiders program that the motion did not proceed. [50] Howe has posted multiple times on social media regarding transgender issues, advocating for girls bathrooms to be based only on sex assigned at birth.[51][52]
↑"My Story". Dr Joanna Howe. Archived from the original on 18 November 2025. Retrieved 18 November 2025. At the time I was working for the Australian Workers Union in Melbourne and I had the luxury of my own office with a closed door.
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