National LGBTIQA+ advocacy organisation Just.Equal Australia says the upcoming Secret Harbour by-election is a test of the state government’s commitment to update WA’s anti-discrimination protections.
In 2022, the WA Law Reform Commission produced a report that was tabled in Parliament, following instructions from then Attorney General John Quigley to investigate Equal Opportunity Act exemptions that allow publicly funded faith-based schools to fire LGBTQIA+ teachers and expel LGBTIQA+ students.
The government accepted the recommendation that the state should work towards strengthening equal opportunity protections for LGBTIQA+ staff and students in religious schools, among many others.
In the wake of a court ordered fine for the man found responsible earlier this month for distributing anti-LGBTIQA+ flyers across Perth, the current Attorney General Tony Buti promised changes to the state’s Equal Opportunity Act are coming very soon.
Now, as we approach a vote in the southern electorate of Secret Harbour due to the resignation of former minister Paul Papalia, Just.Equal is seeking answers from all 16 candidates on where they stand on this issue.
Just.Equal spokesperson Brian Greig says that repealing this discrimination will bring us into line with other states.
“We will finally catch up with Tasmania which abolished this discrimination three decades ago,” Greig said.
“However, there are concerning signs that the Cook Government is now backing away from this reform and may break its promise to scrap this discrimination.
“This means we must keep pushing Labor MPs and candidates not to take WA backwards by entrenching discrimination that other states have already abolished.”
Two prominent cases of exclusion under these Act exemptions occured in the Secret Harbour school catchment zone. The rejection of a seven-year-old girl from Mandurah Christian School for having two gay dads, and the sacking of a gay teacher from a Baptist College in Waikiki.
In 2024, Just.Equal commissioned an independent YouGov Galaxy poll on the subject. Almost 60 percent of voters were opposed to any public funding going to schools that discriminate on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity, including 71 percent of Labor voters.
Greig says this issue will be a test of character for each candidate, because if elected they will likely have to vote on this legislation in the next few months.
The Secret Harbour by-election will be held on Saturday, 29 August.
