This article was originally published by Lucy from Naarm. You can find the original article here.
Sydney independent MP Alex Greenwich has made significant concessions to his long-awaited Equality Bill in an effort to push the legislation through parliament with support of the Premier. Protections that would have prevented private and religious schools from discriminating against LGBTQIA+ teachers and students have been dropped, as have explicit rights to gender-affirming healthcare. These sacrifices were made in a bid to secure support for other vital components of the bill—most notably, reforms to the state’s archaic birth certificate laws.
Under the initial proposal, the proposed bill would have amended the NSW Anti-Discrimination Act to explicitly prevent religious schools from firing teachers or expelling students based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. These protections are sorely needed: currently, LGBTQIA+ students and staff in non-government schools can legally be discriminated against under NSW law.
“We are disappointed that Mr Greenwich did not consult the union representing the teachers and school staff who are impacted. Teachers, support staff and school leaders have shared heartbreaking stories with the IEU of the discrimination they’ve experienced in the workplace,” said Independent Education Union of Australia NSW/ACT Branch Secretary Carol Matthews, which represents 32,000 teachers and staff in independent and faith-based schools in NSW and ACT.
Additionally, the bill originally sought to guarantee access to gender-affirming healthcare, a crucial right for transgender people. However, Greenwich says he was forced to drop this provision in the face of mounting opposition in order to pass the remaining reforms through parliament.
Equality Australia CEO Anna Brown has expressed disappointment but also support for the remaining measures in the bill, urging parliament to pass these crucial reforms. “Although it’s deeply disappointing some reforms have been removed from the Equality Bill, it still contains vital measures that will improve the lives of people across NSW,” Brown said.
The bill retains provisions to ensure transgender people can update their birth certificates without being forced to undergo surgery. Additionally, also retains provisions to extend domestic violence protections to the LGBTQIA+ community and ensure parenting rights for children born via overseas surrogacy arrangements.
