LGBT rights in the Australian Capital Territory
| LGBT rights in the Australian Capital Territory | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Same-sex sexual activity legal? | Always legal for women; legal for men since 1985 |
| Gender identity/expression | Change of sex marker on birth certificate allowed regardless of marital status or whether sexual reassignment surgery was undertaken |
| Discrimination protections | Yes (both federal and territory law) |
| Family rights | |
| Recognition of relationships |
Unregistered cohabitation recognised as "domestic relationship" since 1994; civil partnership since 2008; civil unions since 2012 |
|
Restrictions:
|
Same-sex marriage prohibited under federal law since 2004 and attempted legalisation under Territory law in 2013 struck down by High Court of Australia; see History of same-sex marriage in Australia |
| Adoption | Full LGBT adoption rights since 2004 |
The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) is one of Australia's leading jurisdictions with respect to the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. The ACT has made a number of reforms to territory law designed to prevent discrimination of LGBT people and is notable for being the only state or territory in Australia to pass a state or territory-based law for same-sex marriage.
In May 1973, a simple motion passed in the Commonwealth House of Representatives by 64 votes to 40, decriminalising homosexual acts between consenting adults in private in the Australian Capital Territory. The motion said:
That in the opinion of this House homosexual acts between consenting adults in private should not be subject to the criminal law
In May 1975 the now-defunct ACT Legislative Council passed an ordinance which decriminalised some aspects of male-to-male sexual activity (though retained a minimum 5-year sentence to any individual convicted of anal sex) and elevated the age of consent for homosexual sex to be 18, rather than the 16 years of age reserved for heterosexual sex. Eventually, the conservative federal government of Liberal Malcolm Fraser signed off on the changes, resulting in the implementation of the Law Reform (Sexual Behaviour) Ordinance 1976. It was not until December 1985 that the law was amended so as to remove the draconian punishments for homosexual sex and the age of consent was equalised, when the Crimes (Amendment) Ordinance 1985 was enacted.
Since November 2015, people who have been previously convicted of consensual homosexual sexual conduct prior to its decriminalisation in 1976 can apply to have their convictions erased permanently from their records. To that effect the Spent Convictions (Historical Homosexual Convictions Extinguishment) Amendment Act 2015 passed the Legislative Assembly on 29 October 2015 and was notified on 6 November 2015. South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales have also implemented similar expungement schemes.
The ACT is the only jurisdiction in Australia to have legalised same-sex marriage. This occurred in 2013 when the territory parliament passed the Marriage Equality (Same Sex) Act 2013, with the Act going into effect and enabling same-sex couples to marry from 7 December 2013. However, the full bench of the High Court of Australia heard the Commonwealth Government's challenge to the ACT marriage laws on 3 December. The court determined that the territory was not permitted to legalise same-sex marriage; issuing its ruling 12 December 2013 by contending that - under the Constitution - only the Federal Parliament could legalise same-sex marriage.
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