Abstract
This chapter provides an overall map of the Australian policy context for GLBTIQ students at international, national and state levels; including different policies within government and independent sectors, and individual school policies. Drawing on media artifacts and interviews with a range of policy-makers and activists, it outlines how media outrages over specific bashings of students, discriminatory acts by schools, court cases and activism promoting research findings have been used as policy catalysts. It also reports on how very specific sexuality education discourses and constructions of GLBTIQ students have emerged in key Australian schooling policies and their processes, serving particular functions.
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Notes
- 1.
These national bodies include for example the National Catholic Education Commission (the CEC), Independent Schools Council of Australia (ISCA), Christian Schools Association, Lutheran Education Australia, Australian Council of Jewish Schools, Islamic Schools Association of Australia, Australian Association of Christian Schools, the Seventh-day Adventist Schools in Australia and the Montessori Australia Foundation.
- 2.
The specific state and territory government education departments are: the ACT Department of Education and Training (the ACT DET), the TAS Department of Education (the TAS DET), the NSW Department of Education and Training (the NSW DET), the QLD Department of Education and Training (the QLD DET), the VIC Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (VIC DEECD), the WA Department of Education and Training (the WA DET) and the SA Department of Education and Children’s Services (SA DECS).
- 3.
This book uses ‘Other Christian schools’ to refer to Anglican, Methodist and many other types of Christian private schools. For example some key bodies in the Catholic system include the Catholic Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn, the Tasmanian Catholic Education Office, the Catholic Education Commission New South Wales (CEC NSW), the QLD Catholic Education Commission, the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria (CEC VIC) and the Catholic Education Office of Melbourne (CEOM), the Catholic Education Office of Western Australia and Catholic Education SA.
- 4.
The policy context as it was in 2010 relates directly to the student survey results so I focus on that here, the final chapter notes how the study’s findings were used to subsequently change the legislative and policy landscape.
- 5.
The 2011 revised edition of this policy issued after this study was conducted by MCEECDYA (formerly MCEETYA) had no mention of GLBTIQ students or related issues at all, or sexuality discrimination (MCEECDYA, 2011).
- 6.
Grounds are termed ‘sexuality and gender identity’ in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT); ‘homosexuality’ and ‘transgender’ in New South Wales (NSW); ‘sexuality’ (used to include transsexuality) in the Northern Territory (NT); ‘gender identity’ and ‘sexuality’ in Queensland (QLD); ‘sexuality’ and ‘chosen gender’ in South Australia (SA); ‘sexual orientation’ – defined as ‘heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality or transsexuality’ – in Tasmania (TAS); ‘sexual orientation’ and ‘gender identity’ in Victoria (VIC); and ‘sexual orientation’ and ‘gender history’ in Western Australia (WA).
- 7.
The SA exemption requires religious educational institutions to justify their discrimination on the precepts of their faith in ‘a written policy stating its position on the matter’ made freely available to the public and all school stakeholders – in one sense making such schools more accountable, in another requiring their discriminatory position to become a whole-school policy in a potentially problematic manner.
- 8.
Modality in CDA concerns levels of certainty (Fairclough, 1989; Jewitt & van Leeuwen, 2001). Thus, modal auxiliaries and verbs are understood to convey high or low relational certainty (social power dynamics where subjects/ objects ‘must’ or ‘can’ obey) and high or low expressive certainty (authorisation-based power dynamics where possibilities ‘will/ do/ should’ or ‘could/ may’ be). Modality of images concerns high or low representational certainty/ visual realism (signifying specific things/ people or generally symbolising ideological concepts through more cartoon-like or abstract elements).
- 9.
Members include the NSW DET, FPA Health, Lesbian & Gay Anti-Violence Project, the Attorney- General’s Department, NSW Police, ACON, Twenty10 GLBT Youth Support, NSW Health, NSW Teacher’s Federation, Streetwize Communications and Learn to Include.
- 10.
Chaired by the Attorney-General’s Department.
- 11.
Personal Development, Health and Physical Education is a subject in NSW secondary schools.
- 12.
Research conducted by researchers such as Lynne Hillier, Debbie Ollis, Anne Mitchell and others.
- 13.
A Melbourne-based gay-focused radio station assumed likely to influence the ‘gay vote’.
- 14.
The students, Hannah and Savannah, went to both the Equal Opportunity Commission and the media to protest the ban with the support of their parents (appearing in the newspaper The Age, international magazines such as Grazia, news programs on several Australian and international television channels, Melbourne marriage debate rallies and internet news websites) (Green Left, 2010; Lawrence, 2010; Ryan, 2010).
- 15.
This is a term used in recent Queensland politics and polity to signify the promotion of the state’s knowledge-based economy, in keeping with a more broadly liberal agenda of democratic competition.
- 16.
The cover image of “sexual diversity” showed a faceless group of unidentifiable yellow cartoon students waving at or facing towards the reader in a friendly manner.
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Jones, T. (2015). How Do Australian Policies Treat GLBTIQ Students?. In: Policy and Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex Students. Policy Implications of Research in Education, vol 6. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-11991-5_4
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