NSW Government will not act on laws that discriminate against LGBTQIA+ people
NSW Attorney-General Michael Daley has today confirmed the Minns Labor government has no intention of changing laws that enable discrimination against LGBTQIA+ people in this term of the Parliament, despite the United Nations Human Rights Council calling on Australia to end laws that allow religious schools to legally discriminate against LGBTIQ+ students and staff.
Greens spokesperson for LGBTQIA+ Dr Amanda Cohn MLC said the Attorney-General’s response during today’s Budget Estimates hearing is devastating.
The NSW government has referred a review of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 to the Law Reform Commission, which released its consultation paper in May last year.
“Students and teachers are missing out on employment and educational opportunities in this State every day that this reform is delayed,” Dr Cohn said.
“The government’s response to recent LGBTIQ+ hate crimes is talk without the walk if they won’t update laws that allow discrimination against LGBTQIA+ people, nor fund specialised legal services,” Dr Cohn said.
“As it stands, NSW anti-discrimination law contains sweeping exemptions, and outdated references to homosexual and transgender people which exclude bisexual, asexual, non-binary people and others instead of providing broad protection based on sexual orientation or gender identity.”
Dr Cohn today asked the NSW Attorney General: “Will we be seeing any anti-discrimination reform from the government in this term of parliament?”
Mr Daley responded: “I think we have probably done what we wanted to do… You can never say never, but it’s not our intention to bring any before the parliament.”
Dr Cohn also asked Mr Daley if his government would fund specialised LGBTQIA+ legal services in line with Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania.
Minister Daley said there was no plan for funding specialised legal services for LGBTQIA+ people, but this could potentially be provided within the upcoming tender process for funds under the National Access to Justice Partnership, which applies to a broad range of marginalised populations.
Jenny Leong MP, Greens spokesperson for Human Rights said “It is appalling that NSW Labor has bent over backwards to amend anti-discrimination law in favour of religious groups, but won't lift a finger to deliver long-overdue equal protections for our diverse communities.
"They're all too happy to turn up for photo opportunities with communities who face discrimination, but when it comes to delivering on anti-discrimination reforms that will make a real difference to protect people, they're missing in action. How many more promises will they break before the year is done?"
The Greens in the Legislative Council sought to re-insert updates to the Anti-Discrimination Act that were originally included in the Equality Legislation Amendment (LGBTIQA+) Bill 2023 and amended out in the Legislative Assembly, in October 2024, saying in Parliament:
“The New South Wales Anti-Discrimination Act is not fit for purpose. The Greens support its wholesale review and supported the Government's referral of the Act to the Law Reform Commission last year. However, that does not mean it cannot be amended while that process is underway. That is clearly evidenced by the Government moving changes to the Anti-Discrimination Act last year to protect people for their religious belief, affiliation or activity. The Government stated that those reforms were urgent and that there was no need to wait for the review process to be completed. The New South Wales Government's commitment to examining these issues in the current review is not a commitment to implement the changes once the review is complete. I call on the Leader of the Government to make that commitment.”
Dr Cohn recently raised the need for anti-discrimination reform in Question Time in February 2026 with the Hon Penny Sharpe MLC, and her earliest was in her first month as a newly elected MP in June 2023.