My equality bill passed the New South Wales Parliament delivering more LGBTIQA+ equality reforms in one go than ever before in New South Wales.

I worked with the government to reach consensus and passed provisions that will ensure:

• Trans and gender diverse people can update their birth certificate through an administrative process;
• People will be able to record their sex as non-binary or non-specified;
• There is more time to register a birth if variations of sex characteristics make it difficult to determine an infant’s sex;
• Family members can alter the record of sex of a trans or gender diverse parent/sibling as it appears on their own birth certificate;
• Offences for living off the earnings of a sex worker will be repealed, enabling sex workers to care for adult family members;
• There will be a pathway for children born out of overseas commercial surrogacy to have their parents recognised;
• Decisions about where to accommodate a child under state protection consider an appropriate placement for their gender identity or their variations in sex characteristics (as it does for their sexuality and religion etc.)
• Children who have had their gender affirming care – or any other Special Medical Treatment – approved by the Family Court, will not have to also get approval through the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal
• Threats to out a person’s LGBTIQA+ status or sex work history can be a form of intimidation;
• Aggravated sentencing for crimes motivated by hate extend to hate for trans and intersex people;
• Outdated and stigmatising language used to describe people living with HIV or AIDS will no longer appear in the statute book; and
• The Mental Health Act excludes gender identity and gender expression as mental illnesses and are not reasons to detain a person.

The government has provided pathways to achieve other reforms in the bill that did not proceed including an NSW Law Reform Commission review into anti-discrimination protections and a review of the remaining offences affecting sex workers. NSW Health has issued guidelines for gender affirming care for young people that clarifies consent and ensures children and young people have the support of a multi-disciplinary team.

The strong support in the Parliament, particularly from the government, progressive cross bench and many Coalition party members who spoke to me privately – and of course the courageous Felicity Wilson, MP for North Sydney who crossed the floor – shows that the Parliament can move forward with further reform. I look forward to working with my colleagues to stop private schools from firing teachers and expelling students for being LGBTIQA+.

A big thank you to Equality Australia, Rainbow Labor, and everyone else who supported the bill.