Proposed amendment to equality bill will make hatred for trans people an aggravating factor
The New South Wales government has announced that it is supporting proposed amendments of the Equality Legislation Amendment (LGBTIQA+) Bill 2023 with the goal of offering protections for members of the community.
“The Equality Bill seeks to change multiple pieces of legislation to make NSW a more inclusive place,” said Michael Daley, NSW’s attorney general, in the state government’s media release. “As legislators, it is our job to reflect the views of the community, and in this instance, it is clearly time for these pieces of legislation to be updated.”
Notably, the proposed changes provide an administrative process to allow individuals to change their registered sex without surgery, which seeks to align NSW with all other Australian jurisdictions.
“People in every other state of Australia are already able to change their sex without requiring surgery, and this legislation will bring us in line with the rest of the country,” said Penny Sharpe, leader of the government in the Legislative Council, in the media release.
The contemplated changes also include the following:
- making hatred for or prejudice against transgender, gender diverse, or intersex people an aggravating factor when determining a sentence
- replacing terms such as “HIV infection” and “suffering with AIDS” with the term “living with HIV/AIDS”
- clarifying in the Mental Health Act 2007 that expressing or refusing to express a particular gender identity does not suggest that an individual has a mental illness
- allowing the making of a parentage order for a child born through international commercial surrogacy if it supports the child’s best interests and if the situation complies with other criteria and safeguards
“The changes proposed by the Equality Bill will make NSW a safer and more inclusive place – and they’ve been a long time coming,” said Sharpe in the government’s media release.
Alex Greenwich, independent member for Sydney, first introduced the Equality Bill to NSW Parliament in August 2023. The Bill has been subject to extensive consultation and a Parliamentary inquiry. The NSW government has worked with Greenwich on numerous proposed amendments.
Government action
These proposed changes to the equality legislation follow the state government’s ongoing work to progress reforms seeking to ensure that all members of the community feel valued, respected, and equal.
“As a government, we’ve been committed to equality for a long time,” said Sharpe in the government’s media release. “Supporting this bill is our latest step to ensure every citizen in NSW is valued.”
Last March, the Minns Labor Government fulfilled its election commitment to ban LGBTQ+ conversion practices through the Conversion Practices Ban Act 2024, which passed in the NSW Parliament, the media release shared.
In June, the Premier issued a formal apology to those convicted under discriminatory laws criminalising homosexual acts. This year saw the passage of legislation seeking to extinguish more of these offences.
Last September, the state government supported all 19 recommendations of the Special Commission of Inquiry into LGBTIQ hate crimes. This inquiry looked into unsolved deaths of LGBTIQ individuals and noted shortcomings in the government’s historical responses.
The state government has announced the establishment of the LGBTIQ+ Advisory Council, which will put in place a mechanism for ongoing community consultation.
