Campaigns & Advocacy
A key objective for RFQ is to advocate and campaign for things that are important for Rainbow Families in Queensland. This involves advocating to all tiers of government and the community on behalf of Queensland’s rainbow families, using a range of approaches including face-to-face meetings, online advocacy, and creative and innovative engagement and advocacy.
We work closely with our key partners including Queensland Council for LGBTIQ+ Health, Rainbow Families NSW, Rainbow Families VIC, LGBTI Legal Services, PFLAG, QNews, Local Governments, Multicultural Australia Qld, IndigiLez, Brisbane Pride, Open Doors, WendyBird, health providers, education institutes and many more.
Donor conception
2022 - 2024
Update: April 2024 Submission
Following an inquiry into access to donor conception information, the Queensland Government has agreed to introduce new laws to create a donor conception registry.
In April 2022 we ran a community survey to seek the views of LGBTQ+ parents who have used or intend to use donors to create their families, donors or those who are thinking of becoming donors, and children or adults conceived through donor facilitated conception. See the survey results here.
We wrote a submission to the committee based on the information collected from the community survey, and appeared before the committee on 13 May 2022. Thank you to all who participated, your input is greatly appreciated.
We recommended:
1. A central register should be created to support the rights of the child to receive information about their genetic origins.
2. Mandatory information recorded on the central register should include the date and place of birth of any children conceived through donor-conception, the name and date of birth of the donor, the ethnicity and physical characteristics of the donor, medical/genetic information of the donor, de-identified information about donor siblings, the name of ART provider and date of donation. It should be possible to provide further information on a voluntary basis.
3. Private arrangements may be included on the central register on a voluntary basis.
4. The register should be retrospective with respect to access to information about key medical/genetic issues which could impact on the health of the child or their descendants.
5. The government should provide a voluntary register, ensure it is properly resourced, and provide access to non-mandatory free/low-cost counselling and support for all people accessing the register.
6. A donor-conceived person (DCP) should be able to access information at 16 years old, or when mature enough to understand and make decisions about the issue (whichever is sooner).
7. Community organisations that are inclusive and competent on issues regarding the LGBTQ+ community should be funded to provide high quality, free or low-cost counselling to donors, parents and DCPs.
8. That a review of the register be conducted after a period of five years including to evaluate the impact of registration on availability of supply.
Rainbow Families Queensland has continued to engage with the government during their preparation of legislation to regulate the ART industry and introduce the donor conception registry in 2024.
Birth, Deaths and Marriages Registration
2022 - 2024
Rainbow Families Queensland welcomes the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 2023 – after a lot of hard work from many LGBTIQ+ organisations we have achieved some of the best laws in the country!
We are still awaiting commencement of these laws but expect them to commence in June 2024. Rainbow Families Queensland participated in submissions processes, government roundtables, and engaged directly with the departmental staff responsible for drafting these laws.
Some of the issues specific to our families that will be resolved by this legislation are as follows:
trans and gender diverse parents have significant barriers to changing their gender marker on the birth certificate, including the need to prove surgical intervention
birth certificates for our children do not recognise the diversity of our parenting relationships and roles, sometimes requiring people to “out” themselves
on the birth certificate for our children, some of us must be registered as “other parent”, trans dads can’t opt for “father” or “parent”, and there isn’t the option of opting for the gender-neutral term “parent” for non-binary parents who don’t identify as “mother” or “father”.
Anti-Discrimination Reforms
2022 - 2024
Rainbow Families Queensland has actively contributed to the review of Queensland’s anti-discrimination laws to ensure the voices of our families are heard. We look forward to the passage of the Anti-Discrimination Bill through parliament in 2024. Read our 2022 submission to the review’s discussion paper here. In March 2024, we collaborated with LGBTI Legal Service on a joint submission on a consultation draft Bill.
Rainbow Families Queensland welcomes anticipated changes to Queensland laws that will ensure a safer, more welcoming and open environment for our families and children in faith-based schools. We also support strengthening the legal framework to ensure discrimination is addressed in a more proactive way before it happens. We also look forward to updates to protected attributes, including sexual orientation, and the removal of an outdated and discriminatory exception that allows discrimination in the provision of ART services.
We have also been busy continuing to contribute to reviews of federal discrimination laws, most recently making a submission to the Australian Law Reform Commission to highlight the impact of religious exceptions on our families.
Loneliness and Social Isolation
2021
Rainbow Families Queensland appeared alongside QC LGBTI health at a current parliamentary inquiry into loneliness and social isolation.
Rainbow Families Queensland recommended more investment in community-led solutions to improve connections and reduce the negative impacts of isolation.
Religious freedom laws
2019 and 2021
In 2019 and 2020, Rainbow Families Queensland worked with Rainbow Families Victoria and Rainbow Families NSW to make a joint submissions on the proposed Federal religious discrimination reforms. We did not support the Bills in either their first or second drafts. While we support Federal legislation that protects people from discrimination on the basis of their faith or religious practices, the draft Bills have gone much further to encourage and licence discrimination against our families.
In response to the previous drafts of the Bill we have argued that:
Our children who should not, and should never be, discriminated against because of who they are, how they were created or what kind of family they come from, a family with sole parents, divorced parents and from a rainbow family where one or more parents or carers is LGBTIQ+.
Any health service of any description receiving government funding should not be allowed to discriminate based on a person’s sexuality, gender diversity, family structure or relationship status.
Any educational institution of any description receiving government funding should not be allowed to discriminate based on a person’s sexuality, gender diversity, family structure or relationship status.
Read the previous submission here
In 2021, the Religious Discrimination Bill (along with two related bills) was introduced to Federal parliament. RFQ still does not support this legislation in its new form and has endorsed the submissions of Equality Australia and provided it’s own submission to the two parliamentary inquiries which are due to report on 4 February 2021. RFQ is concerned about the potential for harm to our families and will continue to strongly advocate for this position.
Inclusive sex education in schools
2021
Rainbow Families Queensland recently ran a community survey about the key concerns for our community, and inclusive education topped the list, with 75% of respondents saying it was a key issue for them and their families. Our community overwhelmingly seeks positive discussions and recognition of family diversity, diversity of sexuality and gender identity included in school curriculum and programs.
Rainbow Families Queensland has welcomed the news that the Director-General of the Department of Education, Tony Cook has been instructed to work across non-government and state education systems as well as P&Cs and school communities to review sexual education in Queensland. In coalition with other LGBTIQ+ organisations, we have written to the Department of Education and the Education Minister to request that our community is consulted during this process.
Vilification law reform
2021 - 2024
Update: New crime laws will come into effect on 29 April 2024.
See more information here.
In 2021, Rainbow Families Queensland made a submission regarding serious vilification and hate crimes to Queensland Parliament’s Legal Affairs and Safety Committee. The submission highlights the impact of negative experiences of hate speech and stigma on the mental health of our families and recommends the following steps be taken:
Modernise the definitions of sexuality and gender identity, which should include creating a new protected attribute of sex characteristics based on Yogyakarta Principles.
Extend protection to people on the basis of impairment or disability.
Create separate aggravated offenses for offending based on hostility towards an individual or group based on a protected attribute with higher penalties than the base offenses.
Clarify and expand the meaning of ‘public’ to ensure it extends to educational and workplace settings.
Provide training and support to police regarding LGBTIQ+ issues and improve access to LGBTIQ+ liaison officers to improve cultural competence and community confidence in police services.
Create a new civil injunction mechanism to stop vilification.
Provide mandatory education for children in schools, starting from a primary school level, about the meaning of hate speech and the harm that it causes.
Create stronger policies and training to allow teachers to intervene in hate speech happening in classrooms.
Deliver a community education campaign that creates community awareness and increased understanding relating to all protected attributes.
Thank you to the community members who contributed their stories to a community survey run in collaboration with QC LGBTI Health in June 2021.
Surrogacy laws
2021
Rainbow Families Queensland met with an advisor to the Minister for Children where surrogacy was discussed along with other issues in early 2021. We are now joining a national conversation about law reform in this area. Many of our families are created through surrogacy arrangements both domestically and internationally. Compensated surrogacy, and even advertising for a surrogate, remains a criminal offence in Queensland.
Inclusive health service provision
2020 - 2021
Rainbow Families Queensland met with the Assistant Health Minister and Queensland Health to discuss a number of health issues for our communities including:
Mental health and wellbeing
Surrogacy laws
Inclusive perinatal health
This engagement is ongoing.