Tuesday, 14 November 2023

Anti-vilification legislation

Gabrielle DE VIETRI (Richmond) (19:11): (437) My adjournment is for the Attorney-General, and the action I seek is for the Labor government to produce a time line for the urgent introduction of expanded anti-vilification laws to protect trans and gender-diverse people. Monday is the Trans Day of Remembrance. It is a day to honour the memory of transgender people whose lives have been lost in acts of anti-trans violence and due to the disproportionate discrimination that they face. The day started in 1999 in the memory of Rita Hester, who was murdered in the US. That was 24 years ago, and still anti-trans violence continues. The Fuelling Hate report that was produced by the Victorian Pride Lobby and the Trans Justice Project shows that anti-trans abuse, harassment and violence in Australia is widespread and escalating rapidly.

Four years ago Labor MPs stood up in this Parliament during a debate and said that we needed to do more to stop this violence, and yet they voted down a bill that would have done just that. Two years ago a parliamentary committee inquiry recommended that we expand anti-vilification laws to protect LGBTIQA+ people from vilification and hate, and in May this year I stood in this chamber to introduce a bill to implement those recommendations. The point is we have been officially mourning trans lives for 24 years now, but we are failing to implement the basic recommendations that could have prevented this violence in the first place. At the time I introduced this bill the Attorney-General stated on the record here in Parliament that she would have further announcements to make later in the year and that legislation would be coming within 18 months. Time is ticking. We have one sitting week left. Trans people are still unsafe in the street, in their homes, in their workplaces, and still nothing has happened.

The trans community and the parliamentary inquiry are clear on the changes that need to happen to prevent anti-trans violence. While the recommendations sit on the Attorney-General’s desk, trans people in Victoria continue to live in fear. This week, during Trans Awareness Week, I urge the government to stop dragging its feet and to commit to a firm time line to expand our anti-vilification laws to protect trans and gender-diverse Victorians.