Last night, NSW Parliament passed the Equality Bill, introduced by the Independent Member for Sydney Alex Greenwich. This legislation makes a range of positive reforms for LGBTIQ rights in NSW, including:
- amending the NSW Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act to make it easier for trans and gender diverse people to access birth certificates matching their gender identity, by removing the requirement to have sterilising genital surgery, and also to enable recording of gender markers other than male or female (such as non-binary), and
- allowing for the recognition of parentage for children born as a result of overseas commercial surrogacy arrangements.
An earlier draft of the Bill also included a range of important reforms to the NSW Anti-Discrimination Act, including to:
- protect bisexual, non-binary and intersex people against discrimination and vilification
- protect LGBTQ students and teachers at religious schools against discrimination, and
- modernise exceptions in the Act, including the general religious exception and other exceptions in relation to transgender people in sport and superannuation, to reflect contemporary community standards.
However, these amendments were removed in order to secure Parliamentary support. These issues are also being considered by an ongoing NSW Law Reform Commission review of this Act.
Quotes attributable to Alastair Lawrie, Director of Policy and Advocacy at the Justice and Equity Centre (formerly the Public Interest Advocacy Centre):
‘We’re pleased the NSW Parliament has taken the important step of passing the Equality Bill.
The reforms that make it easier for trans and gender diverse people to access birth certificates matching their identity mean people will no longer be forced to undergo costly, sterilising surgery just to be recognised as who they are.
These changes will make a very real, very positive difference to the lives of trans and gender diverse people across NSW.
While the passing of the Equality Bill is another important step towards LGBTIQ equality in NSW, it’s not the end of the journey.
We’re disappointed that equally important reforms to the Anti-Discrimination Act didn’t proceed as part of this package.
NSW laws still fail to protect bisexual, non-binary and intersex people against discrimination and vilification. LGBTQ students and teachers in religious schools can also be lawfully mistreated just because of who they are, and exemptions that give religious organisatons the ability to discriminate are unacceptably broad.
The NSW Law Reform Commission’s comprehensive review of the Anti-Discrimination Act must now progress quickly, so the NSW Parliament can modernise this outdated and broken legislation as a priority in 2025.’
Media contact:
JEC Media and Communications Manager, Dan Buhagiar: 0478 739 280
