Co-Convenor's Report

Secretary's Report

Campaigns Report

Events and Fundraising Report

Treasurer's Report

Auditor's Report

Summary of Achievements

Anti-Violence Project

Gay and Lesbian History Project

Thank you

ANNUAL REPORT 2000-2001

Campaigns Report

The Lobby has been very active on the campaigns front. Our two major campaigns have been in relation to gay and lesbian parenting and superannuation law reform. In addition, the Lobby has pursued a number of other important policy priorities.

Gay and Lesbian Parenting

Gay and lesbian parents and their children have always been out there in the community. Many gay men and lesbians already have children, sometimes from previous heterosexual partnerships or marriages, and sometimes through sperm donation, legal adoption or guardianship, or under a range of other circumstances. Moreover, an increasing number of lesbians and gay men are electing to have children with their same-sex partner. So gay and lesbian parenting is hardly a new phenomenon. Unfortunately, it is a largely invisible phenomenon and for this reason discrimination flourishes.

Lesbian and gay parents are regularly discriminated against in the community, in schools, in the provision of health care to their children, in relation to leisure activities and the like. Lesbian and gay parents are often stigmatised and excluded from conventional definitions of the family and are thereby denied access to basic services and entitlements. Children may be victimised or harassed simply because of the sexuality of their parents. The courts regularly deny lesbians and gay men sufficient access to their children because of their sexuality. Lesbian and gay parents and their children can often feel isolated because of homophobic and discriminatory attitudes that permeate society.

In October and November 2000, the Lobby hosted a series of consultations with lesbian and gay parents and prospective parents to hear their views on the challenges they face and the reforms they want to see occur. In May 2001, the Lobby released the Parenting Consultations Report to a packed meeting of Rainbow Babies in St Peters. The Report was very well received and has set the agenda for the Lobby's program of reform. Key amongst the report's findings is the need to address invisibility of gay and lesbian parenting both within the gay and lesbian community and the wider community and the need to affect a variety of legal reforms. You can find a copy of the Parenting Consultations Report on the Lobby's website.

You would have no doubt noticed the extensive profiling of gay and lesbian parenting issues during this year's Mardi Gras festival. This was to no small extent due to Lobby campaigns work in this area. The Lobby received a lot of media coverage on gay and lesbian parenting, both in the community and mainstream press, during the festival, which was great in combating invisibility.

I extend a very big thank you to Gary Hampton who, with me, was a co-convenor of the Lobby's Parenting Working Group, and also to Vicki Harding and Grant Beaumont who worked tirelessly to ensure that the Parenting Consultations were as effective as they turned out to be.

In the near future, the Lobby will be releasing its very comprehensive survey of all the studies and research literature on gay and lesbian parenting (produced by the wonderful Ms Jenni Millbank). This report will be a very effective tool for challenging the ignorant and ill-informed commentary on gay and lesbian parenting trotted out by various homophobic groups in society.

Superannuation

The Lobby has run a major awareness campaign into the homophobic and discriminatory federal superannuation laws. Currently, the laws discriminate against gay men and lesbians in two major ways. First, superannuation trustees may be penalized if they pay superannuation death benefits to same sex partners. Second, if the death benefits are paid to our same sex partners, they are taxed much more than if they had been paid to an opposite sex partner.

This may seem pretty dry stuff. But superannuation is the biggest investment that many people will ever have. What is alarming is that many people in the gay and lesbian community don't even realize that they are discriminated against with respect to superannuation. That's why the Lobby thought it was so important to run an awareness campaign in our own community about this important issue. Only then can we successfully agitate for law reform.

To this end, the Lobby has produced a series of brochures and posters to inform our community of this blatant discrimination. A very big thanks must go to Shane Garland who designed these materials, and to our models, Alex and Deb, Andrew and Adrian, and Rob and Nikki.

The Lobby has also had a number of newspaper articles published on the need for superannuation law reform, most notably in SSO and LOTL. The Lobby has also placed a series of advertisements in the community press regarding the need for superannuation law reform.

On the lobbying front, the Lobby has achieved a commitment from Labor to reform the superannuation laws if they win government at the end of the year. The Lobby is also negotiating with the Liberals and the Democrats for similar political commitments.

IVF and proposed amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act

In some States of Australia and Western Australia (and until recently Victoria), lesbians and single women are prohibited from accessing assisted reproduction technology services because of discriminatory State laws. Last year, in a case called McBain v State of Victoria & Ors [2000] FCA 1009, the Federal Court held that the relevant Victorian law was inconsistent with section 22(1) of the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) ("SDA"), and was therefore constitutionally invalid.

This great victory for single women and lesbians was soon threatened by the Howard Government, which introduced the Sex Discrimination Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2000 ("the Bill"). The Bill sought to amend the SDA by introducing a new section that would allow States to legislate to prohibit lesbians and single women from accessing assisted reproduction technology services contrary to the provisions of section 22(1) of the SDA. This Bill was considered late last year by the Senate Legal and Constitutional Legislation Committee into the Sex Discrimination Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2000.

The Lobby wrote a detailed submission to the Senate Committee opposing the proposed Bill, which you can find on our website. The Lobby argued that the Bill was overtly discriminatory and was contrary to the rights of lesbians and single heterosexual women, and to the rights of the children of those women.

Katy Reade, a former Lobby Co-convenor, and myself appeared at the Senate Inquiries hearings late last year and put our case against the proposed amendments to the SDA. The Senate Committee released its report early this year and recommended against amending the SDA in the manner proposed by the Howard Government. Nevertheless the Howard Government moved the amendments through the House of Representatives. Fortunately they were blocked in the Senate.

The battle then moved to another arena - the High Court of Australia where both the Howard Government and the Catholic Bishops have challenged the constitutional validity of the SDA in so far as it operates to allow single women and lesbians' access to IVF treatment. The High Court held this case in early September 2001 and at the time of writing, has not yet delivered its judgment.

Other Campaigns

The Lobby has also been working on age of consent law reform. The Lobby is working with a team of researchers at the School of Social Work at the University of New South Wales, who are examining the harmful social and health effects of these discriminatory laws. This research will provide the material necessary to make a strong case for law reform.

Of course, I cannot close this report without mentioning the tireless work of Kathy Sant in coordinating our federal election campaign. The Lobby is working to obtain commitments from each of the major federal political parties with respect to gay and lesbian law reform. In particular, we are demanding immediate reform to the discriminatory superannuation laws, and the introduction of sexuality discrimination laws to prohibit discrimination on the ground of sexuality. Lobby Committee members have spoken with many politicians to educate them on matters of concern to our community.

Thank you

I extend my heartfelt thanks to all members of the Lobby Committee. It has been so inspiring to work with a bunch of really lovely people so committed to achieving equality for gay men and lesbians. I also wish to thank my two "right hand men", Gary Hampton and Shane Garland. Without the help of these two dedicated individuals it would not have been possible to run so many successful campaigns this year. Lastly, thank you to all those people who attended the many Campaigns Working Groups held this year. Your input and enthusiasm were invaluable and much appreciated.

Naomi Sharp
Campaigns Working Group Convenor