1.It wasn't until 1997 that Tasmania decriminalised sex between men – the last Australian state to do so.
2.NSW, Victoria and South Australia are the only states where people convicted of having gay sex can have their convictions removed. For everyone else, it remains on their record.
3.Tasmania is the only state where it is illegal for religious organisations to discriminate against LGBT people.
4.In Queensland, the age of consent for anal sex is 18, whereas for vaginal and oral sex it is 16. This applies to everyone, not just gay men – but it certainly affects them more than other groups.
5.Transgender people must undergo costly and invasive sex reassignment surgery before they can change the sex on their birth certificate in every state but the ACT.
6.Transgender people who married prior to transitioning are not legally able to change their documented sex – they must divorce their spouse first, or continue to have a non-preferred sex on their documents.
7.Until a landmark decision in 2013, transgender children had to get approval from the Family Court to access puberty blockers – a reversible medical treatment that delays the onset of puberty.
8.Once aged 16, transgender children can access hormone replacement therapy and physically transition. However, they can only do this via the Family Court – essentially, a judge decides if they are competent to transition, not medical professionals.
9.Men who have had sex with other men in the previous year cannot donate blood as they are a high risk HIV group. This is the case regardless of whether they are in an HIV-free and monogamous relationship.
10.Same sex couples cannot adopt children in Queensland, Victoria, the Northern Territory or South Australia.
11.Same-sex stepparents cannot legally adopt their partner’s children in Queensland, South Australia or the Northern Territory.
12.It wasn’t until 2008 that people in same-sex relationships gained the same rights as heterosexual couples in regards to superannuation, tax, immigration, social security and other aspects of Commonwealth law.
13.However, Australia still does not have a nation-wide civil union or same-sex relationship register.
14.And – of course – same sex couples can’t get married anywhere in Australia.
