Moved
by Councillor Wilson, seconded by the Chair (the Lord Mayor) –
It is resolved that:
(A)
Council note the Equality Legislation Amendment
(LGBTIQA+) Bill 2023 (Equality Bill) was passed by the NSW Parliament on
Thursday, 17 October 2024;
(B)
Council congratulate Alex Greenwich MP, Member for
Sydney, for his tireless work with the queer community to develop this piece of
legislation, for bringing it into the NSW Parliament, and for getting it
passed;
(C)
Council recognise that the Equality Bill advances
the most LGBTIQA+ law reform in this state, more than any single piece of
legislation before it, which includes:
(i)
allowing access to government identity
documents that align with a person’s gender identity, including birth
certificates (bringing NSW in line with the rest of the country);
(ii)
legislating “non binary” as a legal sex
descriptor;
(iii) better recognition
of queer families, particularly for parents and children born through overseas
commercial surrogacy; and
(iv) extending
legal protections for trans people, intersex people, people living with HIV or
AIDS, and for sex workers;
(D) Council
congratulate the NSW Labor Government for supporting the legislation, and in
particular the Hon. Penny Sharpe MLC, Leader of the Government in the
Legislative Council and Minister for Energy and Environment for working with
Rainbow Labor, Equality Australia and Alex Greenwich to get the Equality Bill
supported by the NSW Government and through the NSW Legislative Council;
(E) Council
acknowledge that further reforms to the NSW Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 called
for by the LGBTIQA+ community are subject to a current review by the Law Reform
Commission, due to be released in early 2025;
(F) Council call
on the NSW Labor Government to commit to protecting LGBTIQA+ Teachers and
Students and Sex Workers in the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 following the Law
Reform Commission review of the NSW Anti-Discrimination Act 1977;
(G) the Lord
Mayor be requested to:
(i)
write to Alex Greenwich MP, congratulating
him for all his hard work getting this legislation passed and noting Council’s
commitment to support in any way possible a campaign for further changes to the
NSW Anti-Discrimination Act 1977, particularly for queer teachers and students
at independent schools;
(ii)
write to the NSW Premier Chris Minns,
thanking him for the NSW Labor Government’s support of the Equality Bill and
noting Council’s commitment to see any recommended changes to the NSW
Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 passed by Parliament in 2025;
(iii) write to the
Hon. Penny Sharpe MLC, thanking her for her hard work with Alex Greenwich MP to
get the Equality Bill passed by the NSW Parliament and her unwavering support
of Sydney’s queer community during her time as an elected official in inner
Sydney; and
(iv) write to
Felicity Wilson MP, Liberal Member for North Shore, thanking her for her
support of Sydney’s queer community and commitment to equality by crossing the
floor against her party’s position and voting for the Equality Bill in the NSW
Legislative Assembly; and
(H) the Chief
Executive Officer be requested to continue to monitor ways the City of Sydney
can support the LGBTIQA+ community.
Carried
unanimously.
X113758