Ackermann J
[46]In Australia, all the states, with the exception of Tasmania, had by 1992 decriminalised sexual acts in private between consenting adults and some had also passed anti-discrimination laws which prohibited discrimination on the ground, amongst others, of sexual orientation.[1] However, in Toonen v Australia[2] the United Nations Human
- ↑ South Australia became the first state to decriminalise homosexual conduct between consenting adults in 1972, followed by the Australian Capital Territory in 1976, Victoria in 1981, and both the Northern Territory and New South Wales in 1984. (See B Gaze & M Jones Law, Liberty and Australian Democracy (The Law Book Company, Sydney Ltd 1990) at 363.) Sections 5(1) and 29(3) of the 1984 South Australia Equal Opportunity Act (South Australia Act 95 of 1984) prohibits discrimination on the ground of “sexuality”, which is defined to include heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality or transsexuality. South Australia thus also became the first state to recognise sexual orientation as a prohibited ground of discrimination. Western Australia decriminalised private adult gay sex in the Law Reform (Decriminalisation of Sodomy) Act No 32 of 1989. In 1991, the Australian Capital Territory enacted the Discrimination Act, No 81 of 1991. Section 7 of this Act explicitly includes sexuality as a prohibited ground of discrimination. Queensland, where homosexual conduct had been illegal until 1990, enacted its Anti-Discrimination Act in 1991, prohibiting discrimination on the ground of “lawful sexual activity”. This was followed in 1992 by the Northern Territory’s Anti Discrimination Act in 1992, No 80 of 1992. Section 19(1)(c) of this Act declared sexuality a prohibited ground of discrimination.
- ↑ Communication Number 488/1992 (31 March 1994) UN Human Rights Committee Document No. CCPR/C/50/D/488/1992.
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