The long delayed Equality Legislation Amendment (LGBTIQA+) Bill 2023 finally passed the NSW parliament on October 17, albeit with reduced protections for LGBTIQ people to appease NSW Labor.
The bill passed the Legislative Council, 15 votes to 12, with the majority of Coalition MPs voting against it. Liberal MP Felicity Wilson crossed the floor to support the bill.
Following months of stagnation and four deferrals, independent Sydney MP Alex Greenwich finally gained Premier Chris Minns’ support by removing more than 35 pages of reforms, including changes to the Anti-Discrimination Act, extending protections gay men and lesbians receive to bisexual, non-binary and gender diverse people, and protections for sex workers.
“There has been a concerted campaign, particularly by some religious organisations, and I’m not wanting to hold up some urgent reforms while we’re still working this through,” he said.
The major amendments to the Anti-Discrimination Act which were dropped was to remove the exemptions religious institutions have to expel or fire LGBTIQ students or staff. This would have been a huge gain for the more than 200,000 students and nearly 40,000 teachers working in private schools.
Greenwich said his reason for scrapping those amendments was because the NSW Law Reform Commission (NSWLRC) is reviewing the Anti-Discrimination Act which, he hopes, will pave the way for protections for LGBTIQ students and teachers.
The bill, introduced last June, aimed to ratify protections for LGBTIQ people (with specific focus on trans individuals rights) across NSW, and bring the state into line with the rest of the country.
NSW was the last state to force transgender people to undergo gender affirming surgery to update their identification documents.
Other changes this law brings include: updating the Mental Health Act 2007 to clarify that not identifying with a person’s gender at birth does not indicate mental illness; updating outdated terminology regarding HIV/AIDS; making hatred or prejudice against trans or gender diverse people an aggravating factor in sentencing; adding domestic violence protections for members of the LGBTIQ community; and making it an offense to “out” someone.
Labor also announced it would establish the LGBTIQ+ Advisory Council. This had been recommended by the Special Commission of Inquiry into LGBTIQ hate crimes, whose final report in June urged the government to pass the Equality Bill.
Responses to the stripped-back bill have been varied, with some embracing the pared down protections gained for LGBTIQ people, while others criticised Greenwich for bending to conservative, anti-LGBTIQ influences within Labor.
NSW Greens education spokesperson Tamara Smith said she and the Greens would “welcome and will support the few, but vital, remaining reforms in the Equality Bill”. However, she noted that the “most significant piece of reform” was “missing in action”.
A former secondary school teacher for 21 years, Smith said it is “very hard to believe that discrimination based on who you are as a teacher or student or staff member in a private school in this day and age is legal!”
She said it sends a very clear message to students, teachers and staff who are not straight that “their right to work and attend school free of discrimination can only occur at the discretion of their employer”.
Jenny Leong, Greens MP for Newtown, was also critical saying that not amending the Anti-Discrimination act “leave[s] the queer community vulnerable” and that “basic legal protections for LGBTIQA+ people … should already be law.”
The Independent Education Union (IEU), which represents teachers and staff of non-government schools, expressed concerns and cast doubt on the usefulness of NSWLRC’s review of the Anti-Discrimination Act as a replacement.
“There are no guarantees this long-running review will recommend protections for teachers and school staff in faith-based schools,” Carol Matthews, IEUA NSW/ACT Branch Secretary, said.
“Nor is there any guarantee the NSW government will legislate any recommendations arising from the review.”
Protest and community action group Pride in Protest (PiP) slammed the trimmed bill, saying it is “not the Equality Bill anymore”.
“Any bill that leaves glaring exemptions for hate and discrimination, are simply not good enough,” said Dashie Prasad, spokesperson for PiP.
PiP said winning some protections was welcome but not at the expense of “leaving young people, sex workers, students and teachers behind”.
Greenwich said the entire bill could have been voted down, or “12 urgent reforms” were delivered. “I chose progress over defeat.”
The NSWLCR review of the Anti-Discrimination Act has received just under 100 submissions from invested parties — LGBTIQ organisations as well as religious institutions. But there is no timeline on when the report will be out, or any indication of what recommendations will be made.