Cassandra Byrnes

Dr Cassandra Byrnes (she/her) is a History Lecturer at the University of Queensland, Australia, and researches histories of gender and sexuality focusing on reproductive rights and control. She is working on a history of reproductive coercion in Australia’s recent past, and how that directly influences our current understandings of laws and social practices. Her past research has examined reproduction regulation in Queensland in the mid-to-late twentieth century, illustrating how political, moral, and social control over contracepting bodies influenced broader attitudes regarding agency and autonomy. She was a National Library of Australia Summer Scholar and a Global Change Scholar at UQ, collaborating with peers in interdisciplinary networks, and has recently completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship on the interdisciplinary project The Limits of Consent. Gender history, Historical studies, History, Heritage and Archaeology

[2026] Journal Article: Judith Brett, Fearless Beatrice Faust: Sex, Feminism and Body Politics. Byrnes, Cassandra (2026). Journal of Australian, Canadian, and Aotearoa New Zealand Studies, 6, 202-203. doi: 10.52230/zgvm6838 [2025] Journal Article: ‘The Humble Condom’: the rise of condom culture and HIV/AIDS in Queensland. Byrnes, Cassandra (2025). Social History of Medicine, 38 (3), 423-448. doi: 10.1093/shm/hkae071 [2025] Journal Article: “Production-line baby-killing centres”: vilification of abortion in Queensland’s recent history. Byrnes, Cassandra (2025). VIDA Blog. [2024] Book: The limits of consent : sexual assault and affirmative consent. Featherstone, Lisa, Byrnes, Cassandra, Maturi, Jenny, Minto, Kiara, Mickelburgh, Renée and Donaghy, Paige (2024). Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Mac