LGBTQIA+ community
In 2020, the City of Perth Council and created the City of Perth’s LGBTQIA+ Advisory Group, comprising of fifteen community members from the LGBTQIA+ community. This Group, the City and input from the community led to the creation of the City’s first LGBTQIA+ Plan, which was adopted by Council in 2020.
Key achievements under the first plan have been:
- The Pride flag is permanently flown outside Council House
- All gender toilets created at Citiplace Rest Centre (upper concourse of the Wellington Street train station
- The first WA local government to provide Gender Affirmation leave to staff
- Installed a Progress Flag Rainbow supergraphic on the road on James Street (Northbridge Piazza)
- Received the Institute of Public Administration WA’s Lotterywest Best Practice in LGBTQI Inclusion (2023)
- Major sponsor of PrideFEST
- Community lease at Northbridge Piazza (Pride Piazza) to Pride WA
- Ongoing City participation in the Pride FEST Fairday and Pride Parade
The City’s second LGBTQIA+ Plan, was again driven by the Advisory Group and community feedback. It was adopted by Council in October 2024.
Resources
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Articles
International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia and Transphobia 2021 (13 May 2021)
Learn more about Bisexual Visibility Day with Duc Dau (20 Sept 2021)
Learn more about Asexual Awareness Week with Cyan from headspace (22 Oct 2021)
Learn more about Intersex Awareness Day with Michelle from Intersex Peer Support Australia (22 Oct 2021)
City of Perth Council adopt three-year LGBTQIA Plan (27 Oct 2021)
How to be an LGBTQIA+ ally beyond Pride Month (5 Nov 2021)
City of Perth supports Pride WA (26 Nov 2021)
Pride flag hangs proudly outside Council House (14 Dec 2021)
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Resources
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History
1971 One of Australia’s first gay rights activist groups, Campaign Against Moral Persecution (CAMP), established. 1973 Australian Medical Association removes homosexuality from its list of illnesses and disorders. 1974 Homosexual Counselling and Information Service of WA was established. Following several name changes over the years (Gay Counselling Service of WA , Gay and Lesbian Counselling Service of WA, Gay and Lesbian Community Services of WA) the service is now known as Living Proud. 1975 Connections Nightclub opens and eventually becomes the longest running LGBTQIA+ nightclub in the southern hemisphere. 1983 AIDS Council forms in WA following the first recorded Australian death from HIV/AIDS. 1984 Sex Discrimination Act 1984 passes which prohibits discrimination based on sex, marital or relationship status, sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex status, among other things. 1989 First march for rights held, with the “89ers” marching to the steps of Parliament House. 1990 WA decriminalises consensual sex between two males. 1997 Giz Watson, first openly out lesbian parliamentarian elected to WA Legislative Council. 1998 Brian Grieg, first openly out LGBTQIA+ Federal Senator, representing Western Australia. 2002 Acts Amendment (Lesbian and Gay Law Reform) Act 2002 passes in WA, the first significant passage of legislation protecting and supporting the rights of LGBTIQA+ people in WA. This Act:
- Equalises the age of consent for homosexual and heterosexual sex acts;
- Allows recognition of same-sex couples de facto status;
- Allows same-sex couples to adopt;
- Allows same-sex couples to access assistive reproductive technology and both names can be added to the birth certificate; and
- Makes it unlawful to discriminate against people on the basis of sexual orientation in the areas of employment, education, accommodation and the provision of goods, services and facilities.
2008 WA abolishes the gay panic defence. 2011 Federal Government passes passport legislation allowing for an 'x' gender option, and the ability for transgender people to select their gender without medical intervention. 2013 Federal Government legislates an amendment to the Sex Discrimination Act making it unlawful to discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people. Religious schools and hospitals are exempt. 2017 Australia votes ‘yes’ to make same-sex marriage legal, with 61.6% in favour. 71.5% of the Perth Federal Electorate votes ‘yes’. 2018 WA passes a bill expunging historical homosexual convictions. Premier Mark McGowan formally apologises to the LGBTQIA+ community for the anti-homosexuality laws of the past. 2019 WA Legislative Council passes Gender Reassignment Amendment Bill 2018, which removed a requirement for a person to be single in order to be eligible for a gender recognition certificate (which is needed to alter the record of someone's sex on their birth certificate), ending the 'forced divorce' of couples. 2019 WA's first LGBTQI health strategy (WA Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex (LGBTI) Health Strategy 2019 – 2024) is released. 2021 City of Perth establishes LGBTQIA+ Advisory Group, the first of its kind at local government level in WA.
2023 LGBTQIA+ Advisory Group
The City’s LGBTQIA+ Advisory Group guides the City in its growth as a diverse, equitable and inclusive organisation which represents all members of the community. The Group provides a forum for consultation, feedback and discussion on diversity, equity and inclusion for LGBTQIA+ people in the City of Perth.
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Meet the LGBTQIA+ Advisory Group
Individual Members
- Alyce Schotte (co-chair)
- Caro Duca
- Clint Woolly
- Curtis Ward
- Gregory Helleren
- Jane Armstrong
- Kedy Kristal
- Kristyanne Rung
- Scott Telfer
- William Knox
Organisational members
- Bi+ Community Perth
- Perth Inner City Youth Service (PICYS)
- Pride WA
Inaugural (2021) LGBTQIA+ Advisory Group
