NSW has Anti-Discrimination legislation that makes it illegal to discriminate against a variety of minority segments of the population. Included in this is the banning of vilification of those people. Included in the categories are lesbians, gays, and transgendered people. Bisexuals (and for that matter heterosexuals also) are not included.

For a number of years now Bi-NSW has been working with the Anti-Discrimination Board of NSW to try and get the legislation changed. We are very close to now getting bisexuality included in the category list. Changes to the legislation have been recommended by the Law Reform Commission and they now await the Attorney General to make a final decision before presenting the amendments to parliament. The hope was for this to happen in 2001 and we then had our fingers crossed for 2002. However we still haven't seen any confirmation from the A.G. that he actually has a timetable for presenting the reforms to parliament.

In the latter half of 2002, Bi Pride Australia requested that the NSW Anti-Discrimination Board research the status of anti-discrimination laws across Australia with respect to their coverage of bisexuality. As a result of this the ADB produced a paper on 8th August. The paper is 3 pages long but two sentences extracted as follows highlight our status in NSW.

"Bisexuality is not specifically covered as a ground of discrimination under the ADA."

"Bisexuality is included as a ground of unlawful discrimination in all other States and Territories."

(Copy of full document available here.)

The thread that we currently cling to in NSW is that it would theoretically be possible for a bisexual person to make a complaint on the basis that they have been discriminated against because they were presumed to be homosexual. It would be far better for the government to change the legislation to show that it is unreasonable to discriminate against anybody on the basis of their sexuality.

If you have a Bi related discrimination issue we may be able to help out with a little bit of info. Or if you have been actively discriminated against by an organisation due to your bisexuality, please let us know so that we can attempt to alter their attitude.

Send us an email at admin@bi-nsw.org.au.

On the 2nd of August 2002 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras went into administration and effectively ceased operating. The bisexual community was very much at loggerheads with this organisation due to its explict exclusion of bisexuals. As such we had expended a lot of energy trying to change attitudes but seemingly were not able to change the attitudes of the people who held the reins of power.

However from the ashes of the old Mardi Gras has arisen a "New Mardi Gras" which has built a replacement organisation that does not suffer from the problems of old. There were a number of bisexual community members who actively took part in the drawing up of the new consitution as well as others who took part in the extensive community consultations. New Mardi Gras is now quite explicitly inclusive of bisexuals largely due to the involvement of those bi community members.

For more information about the makeup of New Mardi Gras visit their web site at http://www.mardigras.org.au/.