Weekend Wrap for 26 October 2025

VIC: Two Christian lobby groups have pushed back against any new laws to protect vulnerable people from cults, with a Victorian inquiry told of a “palpable fear” they could affect mainstream churches. The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) and Freedom for Faith were among witnesses to appear before the parliamentary inquiry into cults and organised fringe groups on Tuesday. The Labor MP Ella George, who is chairing the inquiry, told the ACL that many witnesses had called for laws addressing coercion by “high-control groups” because of “the incredibly harmful impact it has on individuals and their families”. However, Jasmine Yuen, the ACL’s Victorian director, said existing laws already addressed criminal conduct related to cults. She said any laws targeting “coercive behaviour in faith-based institutions” would be “very dangerous”. When asked if there was any room for legislation to protect vulnerable people already “lured” into cults and who “don’t have capacity to make an informed decision”, Yuen replied: “No.” (21 Oct 2025)
Read more at The Guardian

NSW: Legislation that would ensure the legal validity of religious marriages was narrowly defeated in a recent 16-20 vote of the NSW Legislative Council.  The 1 July commencement of the sex self-identification provisions of the Equality Legislation Amendment (LGBTIQA+) Act 2024 that enable a person to change the sex on their birth certificate using an administrative process presented a challenge for the civil validity of religious marriages given that under the federal Marriage Act 1961, for a minister of religion to validly celebrate a marriage under the civil law, the marriage must be valid within the rights of the relevant religion. This potentially causes problems in cases such as transgender people wanting a Catholic wedding. (21 Oct 2025)
Read more at the Catholic Weekly

NSW: A group of 117 organisations and individuals have endorsed an open statement calling on all NSW Parliamentarians to support the establishment of a public inquiry into a Human Rights Act for New South Wales. On 23 October, the Member for Newtown, Jenny Leong MP, introduced a private member’s Human Rights Bill. Human Rights Act for NSW – an alliance of more than 100 peak and community organisations working across NSW says the Bill puts forward a model that reflects long-standing laws already successfully operating in other states and is calling on the parliament to refer it for a comprehensive community consultation. (22 Oct 2025)
Read more at Australian Lawyers for Human Rights

WA: A proposal to send the Assisted Reproductive Technology and Surrogacy Bill 2025 to parliament’s standing committee on legislation for deeper analysis and investigation has failed. The long promised legislation, which would (amongst other things) remove discriminatory barriers by expanding access to ART and surrogacy for individuals regardless of their sex, relationship status, gender identity, or sexual orientation, is currently being debated in the Legislative Council and last week Liberal member Michelle Hofmann put forward a motion to send the bill to the legislation review committee arguing that more work was needed for politicians could vote on the proposed laws. When the proposal came to a vote on Tuesday afternoon it was defeated 20 votes to 16, with Labor, The Greens, Amanda Dorn from the Animal Justice Party and Dr Brian Walker from Legalise Cannabis joining forces to block the move. (23 Oct 2025)
Read more at OUTinPerth

NSW: The NSW Government is inviting people across the state to help shape NSW’s first whole-of-government LGBTIQA+ Inclusion Strategy. An online survey has opened today, inviting all members of the public to share feedback on how the NSW government can better support inclusion, safety and equality for LGBTIQA+ communities. This will guide a coordinated government-wide approach to recognise, understand and address the barriers and inequities faced by LGBTIQA+ people. (23 Oct 2025)
Read more at Q News

WA: The West Australian government has confirmed it remains committed to reforming the state’s equal opportunity laws following questions from the Rationalist Society of Australia about the lack of action on religious exemptions. Attorney-General Tony Buti said that drafting work on a new Equal Opportunity Act was ongoing. “The Cook Labor Government is committed to reforming our existing equal opportunity legislation to ensure it reflects the kind of fair society that we want to live in and protects all Western Australians from discrimination,” he said. “Drafting of the new EO Act is continuing as a matter of priority and Government will introduce it to Parliament as soon as it is ready.” (24 Oct 2025)
Read more at the Rationalist Society of Australia