Manager's Report

by Elizabeth Riley

(The Gender Centre advise that this article may not be current and as such certain content, including but not limited to persons, contact details and dates may not apply. Where legal authority or medical related matters are cited, responsibility lies with the reader to obtain the most current relevant legal authority and/or medical publication.)

A Year of Significant Developments

This year has seen a number of significant developments for the transgender community in N.S.W. Some of those developments have had, or promise to have, a positive impact for transgender people while others continue to present us with major challenges.

Law Reform Commission's Review of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977

Perhaps the most disappointing result came with the publishing of the Law Reform Commission's review of the Anti-Discrimination Act. Eight years in the making this review offered little joy for the transgender community.

Virtually no changes were recommended to the legislation covering transgender people despite the clear anomalies that currently exist.

In particular the concerns over the dividing of transgender people into "recognised" and "other" transgenders were not addressed.

As a result the anti-discrimination legislation that is designed to protect the rights of transgender people is itself discriminatory on the basis of surgical status.

We are deeply disappointed that the Law Reform Commission chose not to remove this anomaly despite the many submissions it received requesting it do so. The review is now in the hands of the Attorney General's Department and The Gender Centre, The Anti-Discrimination Board, The Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby and N.S.W. have once again forwarded submissions requesting the removal of the term "recognised" to ensure the provision of uniform protection for our community.

It was also a recommendation of the review that the exemption for sport be retained. Despite this some sporting organisations have independently chosen to allow transgender people to compete as a member of their chosen sex. We commend those organisations for their common sense approach to this issue.

Trans Success

There appear to be an increasing number of successes for members of the transgender community worldwide that we can all take heart in. Perhaps the greatest accolades should go to Georgina Beyer of New Zealand who is the first transsexual in the world to be elected as a member of parliament. That constitutes a fantastic achievement and we wish her continuing success. Accolades also to the recently elected transgender mayor of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia.

We should also acknowledge the three transsexuals who stood for various House of Representatives seats for the Australian Democrats at the last Federal Election. While they were unsuccessful they all polled well and achieved the equivalent percentage of votes as did other Democrat candidates. Well done all of you and "Go Girls".

The British transsexuals who successfully fought for the right to have sex reassignment surgery covered under the National Health Scheme of that country are also to be congratulated. This could set a strong precedent for the same access in this country.

The recently released film "The Brandon Teena Story" has also done much to increase awareness of the plight of transgender people. While Brandon's story can only be described as horrific, the film was extraordinarily powerful and carried enormous potential to challenge community attitudes. The winning of Best Actress Oscar by Hilary Swank, who played Brandon, reflects the sea change of growing acknowledgement of transgender identity.

And, finally, all the quiet achievers in the community who stoically maintain their own identity against all outside resistance - keep up the good work.

The Fifth International Conference on Sex and Gender

Last year we reported on The Third International Conference on Sex and Gender which was held at Oxford University in England. We are pleased to report that The Fifth International Conference will be held in 2002 in Perth, Western Australia.

The Conference is being organised by the International Foundation for Androgynous Studies and will draw many speakers and attendees from around the world. This is a great coup for Australia and I expect it will be a fantastic conference and a must for all in the transgender community.

Stay tuned for details on the conference in the coming months.

The Transgender Working Party

The Transgender Working Party under the auspice of The Department for Women is continuing its work to facilitate social justice and equity for the transgender community.

As reported last year The Working Party comprises permanent representatives from the Anti-Discrimination Board (A.D.B.), The Office of the Director of Equal Opportunity in Public Employment (O.D.E.O.P.E.), The Health Care Complaints Commission (H.C.C.C.), N.S.W. Department of Education and Training (D.E.T.), The Department for Women (D.F.W.), The Gender Centre, N.S.W. Health, Department of Corrective Services, N.S.W. Police Service, Department of Community Services and the Public Sector Management Office.

The Working Party has focused its attention on the issue of employment for transgender people, particularly in the N.S.W. Public Sector. To this end representatives from The Gender Centre, P.S.M.O., A.D.B. and O.D.E.O.P.E. have met on several occasions to review the P.S.M.O.'s publication of the Employers Handbook.

The handbook is now inclusive of transgender people and this will help to facilitate equitable access to employment in the public sector for members of the transgender community. Other strategies to assist this process are also being explored.

Employment Equity Specialists Association (E.E.S.A)

The Gender Centre is maintaining an active involvement with E.E.S.A. to keep transgender employment on the agenda for E.E.O. practitioners. A two day conference was held in November 1999 with transgender issues featuring prominently on the program. 100 people attended the conference including four members from the transgender community.

This transgender presence had an enormous impact on other participants who responded positively to the issues. Special thanks to the transgenders who attended for their efforts in raising awareness of others and for presenting the human face of the community.

Through our work with E.E.S.A. we hope to achieve strong support from the E.E.O. practitioners in the public sector in advancing work opportunities for transgenders.

N.S.W. D.E.T.

Sustained training has been continued through the N.S.W. Department of Education and Training. The Gender Centre has provided training to teachers, student counsellors and students within the system on transgender issues and gender in general. The video "Valuing Diversity" is slowly spreading information into the NSW public school system.

N.S.W. Police Service

The N.S.W. Police Service are still developing their policy in relation to transgender people. Due to complexities within the service this process has been quite a daunting task but progress has been made and the policy should soon be available for publication in Polare. We expect the final draft of this policy and its implementation will go a long way to improving the relationship between the transgender community and the police in N.S.W..

Summary

The long term significance of the above, and other ongoing initiatives, will be to change cultural attitudes towards transgender people and create an environment where we can expect the same levels of respect and dignity that the majority of people take for granted. This paragraph appeared in the last two Annual Reports and I repeat it here because I believe it has continued relevance.

Polare is published in Australia by The Gender Centre Inc. which is funded by the Department of Community Services under the S.A.A.P. Program and supported by the N.S.W. Health Department through the AIDS and Infectious Diseases Branch. Polare provides a forum for discussion and debate on gender issues. Advertisers are advised that all advertising is their responsibility under the Trade Practices Act. Unsolicited contributions are welcome, though no guarantee is made by the Editor that they will be published, nor any discussion entered into. The editor reserves the right to edit such contributions without notification. Any submission which appears in Polare may be published on our internet site. Opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the Editor, The Gender Centre Inc.I, the Department of Community Services or the N.S.W. Department of Health.