Passed in the last days of the 43rd Parliament, the Sex Discrimination Amendment (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Intersex Status) Act 2013 ('SDAA') has now commenced, after being proclaimed as of 1 August 2013.
The SDAA amends the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) ('the Act') by inserting a range of new protected attributes including sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex status.
New protections
The key changes are most apparent in the following three new distinct heads of discrimination:
- s5A: discrimination on the ground of sexual orientation
- s5B: discrimination of gender identity
- s5C: discrimination on the grounds of intersex status
The Act defines 'sexual orientation' as a person's sexual orientation towards persons belonging to the same sex, a different sex or both. For the purposes of preventing offence or inaccuracy, the definition of sexual orientation does not refer to homosexuality, lesbianism, or bisexuality.
The inclusion of 'intersex status' is a significant amendment to the Act, not previously recognised in Australian legislation. As opposed to gender identity, which denotes a person's identity, appearance or mannerism, the term intersex specifically refers to a person's biological conditions or characteristics.
A further significant feature of the amendment is its protection of same-sex couples from discrimination on the basis of relationship status. Specifically, the amendment improves upon provisions aimed towards protecting people from discrimination on the basis of 'marital status', to provide similar protection to people belonging to same-sex de facto relationships. To that end, the amendment changes several provisions referring to 'marital status' with the new construction of 'marital or relationship status'.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
