Western Australia

NEWS
extract from an article by megan smith OutInPerth

GENDER IDENTITY DISCRIMINATION

The Report Says... `Western Australia is the only state and territory
in Australia that does not recognise gender identity or
transsexuality discrimination, and there is evidence of
discrimination against persons of indeterminate, or non-birth gender
identity, the Commission recommends that the Act be amended to
include this ground.'

Commissioner Henderson explained that while WA was one of the more
progressive states when the laws were first enacted, in the passing
decades, other states have enacted more comprehensive legislation.
She believes that if the EOC's recommendations are followed, WA will
once again be at the forefront, especially with regards to gender
identity issues, particularly those of intersex individuals.

`It is recommended for example that the protection of the Act be
extended to people who don't have a gender reassignment certificate,
but who have determined that they wish to be a sex different from
their birth sex. They are people who are particularly vulnerable and
we have found they are not protected. So, it is proposed that should
be a ground under the Act. There are also people who wish to be or
consider themselves to be intersex, rather than one sex or the
other, and we have made reference to this as well, that they should
be protected,' Commissioner Henderson said.

These recommendations have been lauded by lobby groups. Men's
Australian Network (MAN), whose submission received specific mention
in the review, said `MAN is pleased that the gender identity
attribute has been recommended as an outcome of this review.
Accepting and affirming diversity will in our view strengthen the
Western Australian community. We look forward to the introduction
and enactment of legislation implementing the recommendation.'

The WA Gender Project (WAGP) also made submissions and was Aram
Hosie of the WAGP was equally pleased with the review, `It is long
overdue for the Equal Opportunity Act to further recognise gender
identity. Currently, the Equal Opportunity Act only covers people
with a gender reassignment certificate [and] fails to cover people
while they are transitioning in the work place, which is a highly
vulnerable time for people. We are also concerned about exemptions
that may remain for competitive sport.' He continued to
express, `hope that the provisions regarding vilification will be
extended to cover gender identity grounds.'

However, not all submissions supported extension of the act to cover
gender identity discrimination. When OUTinPerth asked Commissioner
Henderson about dissenting submissions, she explained, `Most of the
submissions that were detailed, thought out submissions, recognised
that people were often discriminated against on the basis of their
gender identity... There were, however, some submissions that were
almost like form petitions. They were almost identical and a lot of
those submissions opposed any extension of the act to include rights
for people in regards to their sexual identity.'

She went on to defend the review, saying, `the review really speaks
for itself. We have obviously weighed up those submissions, and we
have acknowledged them in the body of the report, but our view is
that there is enough evidence that these sort of revisions are
necessary to provide protection to people and that people do suffer
discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation and that
people are particularly vulnerable when they are undergoing sex
change of one kind or another.'