Sydney MP Alex Greenwich’s proposed Equality Bill will no longer include protections for LGBTQIA+ school staff and students, the decriminalisation of street-based sex work, or rights to gender-affirming healthcare.
The changes follow a compromise deal with Labor aimed at ensuring the bill’s passage through parliament.
“It breaks my heart that I’ve had to take out these reforms which I have worked on my entire political career,” Greenwich said on Monday.
“But in the interest of achieving what we can today, I have scaled back my bill to some of the priority areas for the safety, dignity and identity of the LGBT community.”
The revised bill will now go before the NSW Labor cabinet for consideration this week. The Liberal Party has yet to reveal a public position on the proposed amendments to the bill.
Greenwich’s Equality Bill, announced more than two years ago and introduced into parliament last August, originally sought to amend 20 parliamentary acts.
Its key reforms included protections for LGBTQIA+ school staff and students, allowing trans and gender-diverse individuals to change their identification documents without surgery, and extending parentage rights to children born via overseas surrogacy. The bill also aimed to enhance domestic violence protections for the LGBTQIA+ community.
While many of these key reforms will still go ahead as originally proposed, protections for LGBTQIA+ school staff and students, the decriminalisation of street-based sex work and rights to gender-affirming healthcare will not.
Greenwich emphasised that Labor made it clear they would not address discrimination in schools until the NSW Law Reform Commission completes its review of the state’s Anti-Discrimination Act.
“Once they [the Commission] makes those recommendations, the government and no member of parliament will be able to hide from them and everyone knows the urgency and the priority of which I will take those reforms,” he said.
The removal of key parts of the Equality Bill has sparked backlash from a key teachers’ union and disappointment from LGBTQIA+ advocacy groups.
The Independent Education Union (IEU), representing over 32,000 school staff in NSW and the ACT, expressed frustration over the lack of consultation and called on the NSW government to introduce comprehensive protections against discrimination in non-government schools.
“We are disappointed that Mr Greenwich did not consult the union representing the teachers and school staff who are impacted,” said IEU NSW/ACT branch secretary Carol Matthews.
She added that discrimination based on sex, disability, sexual orientation, and gender identity is still allowed in faith-based schools under the NSW Anti-Discrimination Act.
“Such treatment is unwelcome in schools and would be unlawful in every other industry,” Matthews said.
“School employers have nothing to fear from modern community standards – they can still thrive without the need to discriminate. Changes to the Act could still allow religious schools to build communities of faith central to their ethos and character.”
Despite the setbacks, some advocacy groups, including Equality Australia, highlighted the remaining strengths of the bill while also expressing disappointment.
“It [the bill] still contains vital measures that will improve the lives of people across NSW,” it said.
Equality Australia chief executive Anna Brown urged the parliament to back the amended bill, calling on lawmakers to bring NSW into the 21st century.
“Our communities live with some of the nation’s most outdated and discriminatory laws and it’s time they changed so that all people and families are equal in NSW,” said Brown.
“We call on all members of parliament to support this bill and remove the archaic, cruel and discriminatory laws that impact people in our community every day.”
However, Brown called the removal of protections for vulnerable students and staff at faith-based schools “bitterly disappointing.”
“More children are going to miss out on leadership roles or be refused enrolment, and teachers will continue to lose their jobs or be denied promotions,” Brown said.
ACON’s chief executive Michael Woodhouse also expressed disappointment about parts of the bill being removed but said the LGBTQ+ health organisation would keep pushing for laws that make NSW more inclusive, respectful, and safe for people of diverse sexualities and genders.
Nevertheless, he said the bill still contained important reform and urged the parliament to pass it. “This Bill creates laws that promote the health and well-being of sexuality and gender diverse people in NSW,” Woodhouse said.
Premier Chris Minns backed the scaled-back version of the bill and confirmed he would advocate for its passage in cabinet. “Alex Greenwich’s amended Equality Bill should pass the parliament,” he said.
The premier said the bill would help bring NSW in line with the rest of the country, particularly when it came to the trans community.
NSW is the only state in Australia where people are required to undergo surgery to change their gender on state government documents. This stands in contrast to federal government documents, where individuals can change their gender without needing a procedure.
“The time has come to deal with that anomaly and bring us in line with the rest of the country,” said Minns.
Gay Sydney News reporter
Gay Sydney News editor