Andrew John Julian Bartlett is an Australian politician,social worker,academic,and social campaigner who served as a Senator for Queensland from 1997 to 2008 and from 2017 to 2018. He represented the Australian Democrats in his first stint in the Senate,including as party leader from 2002 to 2004 and deputy leader from 2004 to 2008. In November 2017,he returned to the Senate as a member of the Australian Greens,replacing Larissa Waters after her disqualification during the parliamentary eligibility crisis. He resigned from the Senate in August 2018 in an unsuccessful attempt to win the House of Representatives seat of Brisbane,allowing Waters to fill his seat in advance of the 2019 election.
Aden Derek Ridgeway is an Australian former politician. He was a member of the Australian Senate for New South Wales from 1999 to 2005,representing the Australian Democrats. During his term he was the only Aboriginal member of the Australian Parliament. He is currently a spokesperson for Recognise,the movement to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait peoples in the Australian Constitution.
Human rights in Australia have largely been developed by the democratically-elected Australian Parliament through laws in specific contexts and safeguarded by such institutions as the independent judiciary and the High Court,which implement common law,the Australian Constitution,and various other laws of Australia and its states and territories. Australia also has an independent statutory human rights body,the Australian Human Rights Commission,which investigates and conciliates complaints,and more generally promotes human rights through education,discussion and reporting.
Lesbian,gay,bisexual,and transgender (LGBT) persons in Serbia face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity are legal in Serbia,and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is banned in areas such as employment,education,media,and the provision of goods and services,amongst others. Nevertheless,households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for the same legal protections available to opposite-sex couples.
Louise Clare Pratt is an Australian politician who has been a Senator for Western Australia since 2016,and previously from 2008 to 2014. She is a member of the Labor Party,and served as a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council from 2001 to 2007. She was the youngest woman ever elected to the Legislative Council at the time of her election and the second open lesbian to be elected to an Australian parliament.
Lesbian,gay,bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights in Australia significantly advanced over the latter half of the twentieth century and early twenty-first century,and are now ranked among the highest in the world. Opinion polls and the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey indicate widespread popular support for same-sex marriage within the nation. A 2013 Pew Research poll found that 79% of Australians agreed that homosexuality should be accepted by society,making it the fifth-most supportive country surveyed in the world. With its long history of LGBT activism and annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras festival,Sydney has been named one of the most gay-friendly cities in the world.
Lesbian,gay,bisexual,and transgender (LGBT) rights in Cyprus have evolved in recent years,but LGBT people still face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity are legal in Cyprus since 1998,and civil unions which grant several of the rights and benefits of marriage have been legal since December 2015. Conversion therapy was banned in Cyprus in May 2023.
Ian Keith Hunter is an Australian politician,representing the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party in the South Australian Legislative Council since the 2006 state election. Hunter served in the Cabinet of South Australia from October 2011 to 2018.
Lesbian,gay,bisexual,and transgender (LGBT) people in Albania face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents,although LGBT people are protected under comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation. Both male and female same-gender sexual activities have been legal in Albania since 1995,but households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for the same legal protections available to opposite-gender couples,with same-sex unions not being recognized in the country in any form.
Lesbian,gay,bisexual,and transgender (LGBT) people in Eswatini have limited legal rights. According to Rock of Hope,a Swati LGBT advocacy group,"there is no legislation recognising LGBTIs or protecting the right to a non-heterosexual orientation and gender identity and as a result [LGBT people] cannot be open about their orientation or gender identity for fear of rejection and discrimination". Homosexuality is illegal in Eswatini,though this law is in practice unenforced. According to the 2021 Human Rights Practices Report from the US Department of State,"there has never been an arrest or prosecution for consensual same-sex conduct."
Discussions of LGBT rights at the United Nations have included resolutions and joint statements in the United Nations General Assembly and the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC),attention to the expert-led human rights mechanisms,as well as by the UN Agencies.
Lesbian,gay,bisexual,and transgender (LGBT) rights in Queensland have advanced significantly from the late 20th century onwards,in line with progress on LGBT rights in Australia nationally. Private consensual sex between men has been legal in the state since 1991,with lesbian sexual acts never criminalised. The age of consent was equalised to 16 years for all sexual acts in 2016. Sexuality and gender identity are protected attributes under both state and federal anti-discrimination laws. Same-sex couples may marry under Australian law,enter into a civil partnership under state law or live together in an unregistered de facto relationship. Same-sex couples may become parents through adoption,foster care,altruistic surrogacy and,for lesbian couples,IVF. In 2020,Queensland became the first jurisdiction within Australia to pass a law banning conversion therapy,with a maximum penalty of 18 months imprisonment and fines. State anti-discrimination protections for sexuality and gender identity were introduced in 2002 and in 2017 the gay panic defence was abolished from the criminal law. Transgender and intersex Queenslanders are able to update their government records and birth certificate,with the formal repeal of both the "divorce requirements" in 2018 and then the "surgery requirements" in 2023.
The Australian state of Victoria is regarded as one of the most progressive jurisdictions with respect to the rights of lesbian,gay,bisexual,transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people.
Lesbian,gay,bisexual,and transgender (LGBT) people in North Macedonia face discrimination and some legal and social challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity have been legal in North Macedonia since 1996,but same-sex couples and households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for the same legal protections available to opposite-sex married couples.
Sexual orientation and gender identity in the Australian military are not considered disqualifying matters in the 21st century,with the Australian Defence Force (ADF) allowing LGBT people to serve openly and access the same entitlements as other personnel. The ban on gay and lesbian personnel was lifted by the Keating government in 1992,with a 2000 study finding no discernible negative impacts on troop morale. In 2009,the First Rudd government introduced equal entitlements to military retirement pensions and superannuation for the domestic partners of LGBTI personnel. Since 2010,transgender personnel may serve openly and may undergo gender transition with ADF support while continuing their military service. LGBTI personnel are also supported by the charity DEFGLIS,the Defence Force Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender and Intersex Information Service.
Peter Gilbert da Conceição Foss KC is a former Australian politician,who represented the Liberal Party.
Lesbian,gay,bisexual,and transgender (LGBT) people in the Australian state of Tasmania have the same legal rights as non-LGBT residents. Tasmania has a transformative history with respect to the rights of LGBT people. Initially dubbed "Bigots Island" by international media due to intense social and political hostility to LGBT rights up until the late 1990s,the state has subsequently been recognised for LGBT law reforms that have been described by activists such as Rodney Croome as among the most extensive and noteworthy in the world. Tasmania imposed the harshest penalties in the Western world for homosexual activity until 1997,when it was the last Australian jurisdiction to decriminalise homosexuality after a United Nations Human Rights Committee ruling,the passage of federal sexual privacy legislation and a High Court challenge to the state's anti-homosexuality laws. Following decriminalisation,social and political attitudes in the state rapidly shifted in favour of LGBT rights ahead of national trends with strong anti-LGBT discrimination laws passed in 1999,and the first state relationship registration scheme to include same-sex couples introduced in 2003. In 2019,Tasmania passed and implemented the world's most progressive gender-optional birth certificate laws. In July 2023,the Tasmanian government officially included and also added "asexual or asexuality".
Lesbian,gay,bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights in Western Australia have seen significant progress since the beginning of the 21st century,with male sex acts legal since 1990 and the state parliament passing comprehensive law reforms in 2002. The state decriminalised male homosexual acts in 1990 and was the first to grant full adoption rights to LGBT couples in 2002.
Intersex Human Rights Australia (IHRA) is a voluntary organisation for intersex people that promotes the human rights and bodily autonomy of intersex people in Australia,and provides education and information services. Established in 2009 and incorporated as a charitable company in 2010,it was formerly known as Organisation Intersex International Australia,or OII Australia. It is recognised as a Public Benevolent Institution.
Gina Wilson is an Australian intersex human rights activist. She was the founding president of Intersex Human Rights Australia.
