Promoting the rights of LGBTIQ Victorians
Our vision: For LGBTIQ Victorians to no longer be subjected to discrimination in religious schools and for trans, gender diverse and intersex Victorians to be properly recognised and protected by the Equal Opportunity Act.
Recent reform
Equal Opportunity Act amendments
The Victorian government has announced stronger protections against the discrimination of LGBTIQ staff and students, with the Equal Opportunity (Religious Exceptions) Amendment Bill 2021. The Bill provides amendments to the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 which will protect Victorians who identify as LGBTIQ working within religious organisations and schools, so that discrimination based on protected attributes such as gender identity or sexuality will not be permitted.
The religious beliefs of an employee can only factor into decisions when the religious beliefs are inherent to the job they are performing. In addition, the amendments to the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 will ensure that religious bodies receiving government funding to provide services will not be able to refuse to provide those services to people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
In 2020 the Commission contributed a submission to the second exposure draft of the Australian Government’s Religious Discrimination Bill, noting the risk of the Bill authorising discrimination against already vulnerable groups, including the LGBTIQ community. Our submission aligns with our recommendations for amendments to the Equal Opportunity Act.
Sex characteristics
In October 2021, the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 was updated to include sex characteristics as a protected attribute. Sex characteristic discrimination is when someone is treated unfairly or bullied because of their physical features related to their sex, including people born with variations in sex characteristics – people with intersex variations.
A person with intersex variation is born with atypical natural variations to sex characteristics such as variations in chromosomes, hormones or anatomy. Intersex traits are a natural part of human bodily diversity.
Sex characteristics include:
- genitalia and other sexual and reproductive parts
- chromosomes, genes, hormones, and secondary physical features that emerge as a result of puberty.
The definition of gender identity in the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 has now been redefined to include people with intersex variations, who identify as a non-binary gender due to their sex characteristics. Gender identity discrimination is when someone treats a person unfairly or bullies a person because of their gender identity. Under the Equal Opportunity Act 2010, gender identity protects a person’s right to identify as a gender that may or may not be the same as the sex they were designated with at birth.
The definition of sexual orientation has also been updated to mean a person’s emotional, affectional and sexual attraction to, or intimate or sexual relations with, persons of a different gender or the same gender, including dress, speech, mannerisms, names and personal references.
Continued advocacy
The Commission participates as a member of the LGBTIQ Justice Working Group, which provides advice to the government on current and emerging LGBTIQ issues and acts as a forum for stakeholder consultation on relevant government policy, programs and services.
The Commission wrote to the Attorney-General regarding our key priorities for reforming the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 and will continue to engage with stakeholders and government about progressing these important changes.
The Commission requires stronger powers to enforce LGBTIQ rights
The Commission should be given stronger enforcement powers to enable us to enforce compliance with the law and ensure organisations are taking necessary steps to prevent discrimination against LGBTIQ people.