A NSW parliamentary inquiry has recommended Sydney MP Alex Greenwich’s Equality Bill proceed to be debated by parliamentarians following consultation with various stakeholders.
The NSW Parliament committee on community services completed its inquiry into the Equality Legislation Amendment (LGBTIQA+) Bill 2023 and tabled its report on Monday.
Greenwich’s Equality Bill – which was introduced in August last year and proposes amendments to 20 different acts of parliament – aims to protect LGBTI+ school staff and students from discrimination, ensure trans and gender diverse people can access ID that matches their identity, and better recognises queer families.
The committee’s report recommends “that the Parliament of NSW proceeds to consider the Equality Legislation Amendment (LGBTIQA+) Bill 2023, including stakeholder input into this inquiry”.
It also came away with two findings. The first finding was that “there were diverse and conflicting views on the amendments proposed by the bill and how they would operate”.
The second was that there is “a need for additional policy measures and funding to improve the safety and wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ people. These may be directed towards addressing issues like disadvantage, discrimination and poorer health outcomes experienced by LGBTIQA+ people”.
During the course of the inquiry, the committee received 66 written submissions and heard from 44 witnesses over two days of public hearings. Submissions came from LGBTIQA+ advocacy groups, legal experts, churches, think tanks, peak bodies, interest groups, and the NSW government.
Clayton Barr, chair of the inquiry and the Labor member for Cessnock, said the committee heard from a diverse range of people to form its recommendation that the bill be considered by parliamentarians.
“Views put to the committee throughout the inquiry were quite polarised,” Barr said. “The great bulk of
participants either totally believed in, or were completely opposed to, the Equality Bill. By and
large the ‘middle ground’ was vacant,” he said.
“The committee has recommended that the bill proceed to be considered by the parliament and that the views of stakeholders as outlined in this report be considered as part of the deliberations.”
Barr said some people “might find it odd” to have just one recommendation and two findings
stemming from the inquiry.
“But the real strength of the work undertaken was the opportunity created for a diverse range of views to be presented to the NSW Parliament for consideration,” he said.
He added that he saw the inquiry as an opportunity for Greenwich “to continue his dialogue with other members of parliament around this concept of, and need for, advances in equality for all people in NSW”.
“In particular, given the length and detail provided in the NSW government submission to this
inquiry, I would urge Mr Greenwich and the NSW government to further explore what can and
cannot be agreed to,” Barr said, hinting that Labor appears unlikely to support the bill in its current form.
The bill will now be debated in parliament. But Barr warned his parliamentary colleagues to keep the debate civil, as he said some material during the inquiry caused harm to others.
“I sincerely hope that all of my colleagues, and public commentators, will be sensitive to
that,” he said.
Advocacy group Equality Australia welcomed the recommendation that the bill proceed to debate, saying it was now time for the parliament to pass the bill to ensure LGBTIQ+ people are treated equally.
“The bill presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to bring NSW into line with other states and territories on LGBTIQ+ equality,” Equality Australia said on social media.
Gay Sydney News reporter
Gay Sydney News editor