Page 849 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 18 March 2015
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deaths and marriages act, and made changes to our births, deaths and marriages arrangements to allow for a third category, “indeterminate, intersex or unspecified”, for birth certificates, and removed the requirement for sexual reassignment surgery for people who want to change their gender on their birth certificate. Previously, every single time a person sought to open a bank account or did something that required the presentation of an ID it was an intrusive and complex process. These changes were a necessary evolution of the law and administration to reflect changing social expectations and the acknowledgement of people who do not see themselves in the context of binary sex or gender. I am delighted that these changes, unlike some of our other progressive social reforms, were passed unanimously by members of this Assembly.
Let me add at this point that the government I lead will continue to advocate for greater equality for LGBTI Canberrans. We will continue to be passionate advocates for same-sex marriage. We know that commonwealth legislative action is needed. I, along with tens of thousands—now hundreds of thousands—of Canberrans, look forward to the day when this occurs and when discrimination against same-sex couples ends. We know, and we know clearly, that federal MPs and senators continue to lag behind this community, and indeed the Australian community, on this issue.
We cannot rest on our laurels. In discussing what being the most LGBTI-friendly city in Australia would mean practically for people, I posed this question. Someone provided in a single sentence perhaps the most compelling answer and challenge that we face. This individual told me that not once in his life had he been able to un-self-consciously hold the hand of his partner in public in this city—not once in his life. I would invite every member who has an opposite-sex partner to think about that for a moment. What if, on every single occasion in your life, you felt self-conscious, at risk or threatened by holding the hand of your partner in public? That tells you that we have a way to go on social inclusion and equality in this city.
You cannot legislate for that; I recognise that. But as leaders in this place, and as the Chief Minister, with the minister for social inclusion and equality, we are going to move this debate forward and make this a better city for LGBTI Canberrans.
We cannot rest on our laurels. There is much more to do. That is why I have established a cabinet subcommittee on social inclusion to progress the government’s agenda. This dedicated subcommittee will be a forum to enhance ideas and exchanges between ministers and senior key officials, provide more accountability on priority projects, and allow direct ministerial input at the early stage of the policy development cycle.
This structural commitment to social inclusion will build on the record of the government to date in areas of mental health reform, transgender law reform, promotion of same-sex marriage, civil unions and civil partnerships, and the more than 100 pieces of ACT legislation that have been amended to remove discrimination, to help integrate some of Canberra’s most disadvantaged into service provision and more sustainable tenancies. There are many areas of focus. There is the NDIS, strengthening families and work across multiple portfolios that will be brought to this social inclusion subcommittee.
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