Media Releases

Over the last three years Anna Brown, Lee Carnie and the rest of the HRLC team helped secure many important reforms, won a number of landmark legal cases, and helped to shift community attitudes in partnership with LGBTIQ+ community organisations.

The Human Rights Law Centre is excited to support the establishment of Equality Australia, Australia’s first national LGBTIQ+ legal advocacy and campaigning organisation to continue the unfinished business of achieving equality for LGBTIQ+ people.

Since joining the Human Rights Law Centre, Anna Brown has been at the forefront of nearly every major reform for LGBTI people in recent years.

Australia’s first national LGBTQI+ legal advocacy and campaigning organisation Equality Australia, welcomed today’s pledge by the Andrews Government to provide in principle support to funding counselling and support services for survivors of ‘gay conversion therapy’ and establish an expert working group to draft legislation to prohibit conversion therapy.

Survivors and LGBTQI+ legal advocacy body Equality Australia, have welcomed the recent changes to the ALP’s platform on religious “conversion therapy”, saying the shift away from a focus on criminalisation to broader strategies in partnership with affected communities will provide better long-term outcomes for LGBTQI+ survivors.

Today’s announcement by Prime Minister Scott Morrison that the religious freedom review report will be released, has prompted calls for stronger federal protections from discrimination for LGBTIQ+ people.

Anna Brown, Co-Chair of the Equality Campaign and Director of Legal Advocacy at the Human Rights Law Centre, said the delay by the Australian Parliament is a blow to students and their parents seeking certainty ahead of the new year.

Today the NT Parliament passed new laws that are a significant step forward towards equality for LGBTI Territorians. It’s been almost a year since the Federal Government passed marriage equality. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case for all Australians due to an outdated and unnecessary law that meant transgender people couldn’t change the gender on their birth certificate without being forced to divorce the person they love.

The NT Government has introduced new laws that will help heal the harm caused by discriminatory laws against LGBTI people. NT’s expungement laws, which come into effect today, and the introduction of legislation to reform outdated birth certificate laws are two steps towards achieving justice and equality for all.

In an open letter to Attorney-General Christian Porter, leading legal academics and antidiscrimination law practitioners have strongly criticised aspects of the proposed amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (SDA) designed to deal with discrimination by religious schools against LGBT students.

A major report confirms that religious conversion therapy and related practices are pervasive in many faith communities in Australia and causing real harm to lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people.

The leaked copy of the Morrison Government’s bill to protect students from discrimination has raised concerns and a push for more consultation with the community.