December 2025 – March 2026 · LGBTIQ+ Rights, Law & Safety
In the most significant LGBTIQ+ legislative development of the quarter, Victoria became the first Australian state to legislate protections for intersex children from unnecessary or non-urgent medical interventions. The Act restricts permanent or hard-to-reverse treatments altering sex characteristics of intersex children or adults who cannot consent, and establishes an independent expert panel with lived experience representatives.
Introduced to the Victorian Legislative Assembly on 2 December 2025 by Minister Mary-Anne Thomas, the Bill passed the Assembly on 5 February 2026 and the Legislative Council on 19 February 2026 (24 votes to 15). Royal Assent was received on 24 February 2026 (Act No. 4 of 2026). Victoria follows the ACT, which enacted similar protections earlier. Advocacy organisations have described the Act as a generational milestone for intersex human rights.
🔗 legislation.vic.gov.au — Bill page 🔗 Star ObserverQueensland's restrictions on gender-affirming care for transgender youth became a central issue during this period. After the Queensland Supreme Court ruled on 27 October 2025 that the government's ministerial directive banning puberty blockers was unlawful, the LNP government responded by passing the Public Health and Other Legislation (Puberty Blockers) Amendment Act 2025 to give the ban statutory force. The Act prohibits access to puberty blockers for transgender youth in public health settings until at least 2031, following the Vine Review (released 19 December 2025), which recommended the extension.
In response, LGBTI Legal Service Inc. filed a judicial review in the Queensland Supreme Court in early 2026 seeking to overturn the ban. A separate QCAT representative action was also filed on behalf of affected transgender young people. The ban applies to new patients; existing patients may continue treatment with ministerial approval. Advocacy groups have condemned the measure as harmful to the mental health and wellbeing of transgender young people.
🔗 SBS News — Supreme Court ruling 🔗 QNews — ban extended to 2031 🔗 QNews — legal challengeWestern Australia Attorney-General Tony Buti publicly committed in January 2026 to introduce a conversion practices ban before the end of the 41st Parliament (due by 2029). WA remains one of a small number of Australian jurisdictions without a comprehensive conversion practices ban in force. No bill has been tabled as of March 2026, but the commitment represents a meaningful step forward for LGBTIQ+ advocates who have campaigned on this issue for years.
🔗 OUTinPerth — Cook Government commits to conversion practices banThe Justice Legislation Amendment (Anti-vilification and Social Cohesion) Act 2025 (Vic) — which received Royal Assent earlier in 2025 — saw its criminal vilification provisions commence on 20 September 2025, taking full effect during this newsletter period. The Act expanded Victorian anti-vilification law to cover gender identity, sex characteristics, and sexual orientation, in addition to existing race and religion protections. Civil vilification provisions are due to commence on 30 June 2026. This is considered one of the most significant expansions of LGBTIQ+ legal protections in Victoria in recent years.
🔗 legislation.vic.gov.au — Act text 🔗 vic.gov.au — New protectionsThe following incidents were documented and verified by Incidex during the December 2025 – March 2026 period. All incidents are sourced from published news reports. Severity classifications follow Incidex's standard methodology.
Kirralie Smith and Binary Australia were found to have unlawfully vilified two transgender women football players through social media posts made between 2022 and 2024, including publishing their photos, names, and locations. The NSW Local Court (Central Local Court) found the vilification proven on 23 August 2025 and on 6 December 2025 ordered Smith to pay $95,000 in damages and issue a public apology. This is the first time a person has been found to have vilified someone for being transgender under NSW law. Smith is appealing the decision.
🔗 Star Observer 🔗 Law and Religion Australia — case analysisThomas Fordham, 27, was convicted at the Central Local Court, Sydney on 19 November 2025 in the first-ever NSW prosecution for gender identity vilification under Section 93Z of the Crimes Act 1900. He pleaded guilty to threatening or inciting violence on grounds of gender identity after making YouTube comments (posted March–May 2024) calling for genocide of transgender people. He was sentenced to a 12-month community correction order.
🔗 QNews 🔗 OUTinPerthA 25-year-old transgender person was physically assaulted by three juveniles while travelling on a tram to Broadbeach, Gold Coast on 1 November 2025. The victim sustained facial injuries. The youths verbally abused the victim and pulled an LGBTQ+ sticker from their backpack before the physical assault. Queensland Police investigated. The attack was widely reported in LGBTIQ+ media and highlighted ongoing safety concerns for transgender people in public spaces.
🔗 Star Observer 🔗 QNewsBrad Cresswell-Lee, a community advocate and volunteer at JOY 94.9 radio, witnessed homophobic slurs directed at two men at a park in Kensington, Melbourne on 2 January 2026. He intervened and confronted the perpetrator, who then falsely accused him of inappropriate behaviour. After Cresswell-Lee shared the incident publicly, he received a sustained wave of coordinated homophobic abuse online. The incident highlights an emerging pattern where in-person homophobia is compounded by organised online abuse campaigns against those who speak out.
🔗 Star Observer 🔗 QNewsBurnie City Councillor Trent Aitken was suspended for 14 days from 27 January 2026 after a Code of Conduct Panel found seven statements categorised as homophobic — and additional racist content — in his social media posts made between January and May 2025. Posts included criticism of transgender people and opposition to rainbow flags at council. He was required to complete a training course. Aitken had been the sole vote against the council's LGBTQIA+ action plan when it passed 8–1 in April 2025.
🔗 Pulse Tasmania 🔗 QNewsThe December 2025 – March 2026 period illustrates a striking divergence in legislative approach across Australian jurisdictions. While Victoria passed landmark intersex protections and its anti-vilification law took full criminal effect, Queensland enacted a statutory ban on puberty blockers and delayed expanded discrimination protections, and the Northern Territory weakened its vilification standard.
Of the documented incidents in this quarter, hate speech — including online and institutional forms — was the dominant incident type. Two incidents specifically involved institutional actors (an elected councillor, a court respondent) rather than private individuals. The Local Court ruling against Kirralie Smith is notable both as an incident and a legal precedent, being the first time NSW anti-vilification law was successfully applied to gender identity.
Victorian civil vilification provisions commence 30 June 2026. Individuals and organisations will be able to bring civil complaints for LGBTIQ+-related vilification under the expanded Victorian law for the first time.
QCAT challenge to Queensland puberty blocker ban. The legal challenge filed by LGBTI Legal Service Inc. will progress through Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal. The outcome may have national implications for gender-affirming care policy.
WA conversion practices legislation awaited. AG Tony Buti has committed to introducing a bill before the end of the 41st Parliament. Advocacy groups will be watching closely for a tabling date.
Kirralie Smith appeal. Smith has indicated she will appeal the NSW Local Court ruling. The outcome will help define the scope and enforceability of NSW's gender identity vilification provisions.
Incidex data expansion. We are working to bring our state and territory MP voting records online, alongside expanded coverage of historical incidents. Watch for updates on these features in the next edition.