LGBT rights in the Northern Territory
| LGBT rights in the Northern Territory | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Same-sex sexual activity legal? | Always legal for women; legal since 1983 for men Equal age of consent since 2003 |
| Gender identity/expression | Change of sex requires divorce if married and sexual reassignment surgery |
| Discrimination protections | Yes (both federal and territory law) |
| Family rights | |
| Recognition of relationships |
Unregistered de facto unions recognised by territory law since 2003 (no civil union or relationship register) |
|
Restrictions:
|
Same-sex marriage prohibited under federal law since 2004; see History of same-sex marriage in Australia |
| Adoption | No (the only ban within Australia - under review) |
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Australia's Northern Territory lack certain rights available to other residents. Homosexual activity has been legal since 1983 with an equal age of consent since 2003. Same-sex couples are recognised as de facto relationships. There is no civil union or domestic partnership registration scheme available, with marriage restricted to heterosexual couples by federal law. LGBT people are protected from discrimination by both Territory and Commonwealth law. As of December 2016, the Northern Territory is the only jurisdiction within Australia to ban same-sex couples from adopting children.
The Northern Territory became self-governing in 1978 and the unicameral territory Parliament, headed by the conservative Country Liberal Party Government, passed and the territory Criminal Code Act in October 1983. This code legalised some homosexual sex acts between consenting adult males in private, though imposed a consent age of 18 for such acts, as opposed to an age of 16 for heterosexual sex acts. The code furthermore banned homosexual anal sex and similar acts which were done "in public", defined as occurring within the presence of only one or more observer. Age of consent equalisation laws were achieved via the Law Reform (Gender, Sexuality and De Facto Relationships) Act 2003, which went into effect in March 2004.
As of February 2017, the Northern Territory is one of only two Australian jurisdictions (the other being Western Australia) not to provide for a scheme allowing people who have previously been convicted of consensual homosexual sex acts the right to apply to have their conviction squashed or expunged. Following a story on the subject appearing on Triple J's popular youth radio program Hack, a spokesperson for the Northern Territory Labor government stated it was seeking advice on the topic and that "every Territorian has a right to dignity and respect."
The Northern Territory is one of two jurisdictions in Australia not to offer relationship registries or official domestic partnership schemes to same-sex couples, the other being Western Australia. Cohabiting same-sex couples can be recognised as living in a de facto relationship, which cannot be registered but can be recognised by a court declaration for certain purposes.
...
Wikipedia