REPORT ON PROCEEDINGS BEFORE STANDING COMMITTEE ON SOCIAL ISSUES INQUIRY INTO GAY AND TRANSGENDER HATE CRIMES BETWEEN 1970 AND 2010 - 57TH PARLIAMENT CORRECTED At Macquarie Room, Parliament House, Sydney, on Friday 13 November 2020 The Committee met at 10:20. PRESENT The Hon. Shayne Mallard (Chair) Ms Abigail Boyd The Hon. Ben Franklin The Hon. Rose Jackson The Hon. Taylor Martin Reverend the Hon. Fred Nile The Hon. Mark Pearson The Hon. Natalie Ward Friday, 13 November 2020 Legislative Council Page 1 CORRECTED The CHAIR: Good morning. Welcome to the Standing Committee on Social Issues inquiry into gay and transgender hate crimes between 1970 and 2010. The inquiry was re-established following the Committee's work in the last Parliament. The inquiry is continuing to investigate whether there were any impediments within the New South Wales criminal justice system that impacted the protection of LGBTQI people and whether they have been effectively addressed by current policy and practices. We will also continue to examine the delivery of justice to victims of LGBTQI hate crimes and their families. Before I commence, I acknowledge the Gadigal people who are the traditional custodians of this land and any other Aboriginal people who are joining us around the State via social media or the internet. I also pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging of the Eora nation and I extend that respect to other Aboriginal people. Today we will hear from a number of stakeholders, including ACON and the NSW Police Force. I thank everyone for taking the time to give evidence to this important inquiry. Before we commence I will make some brief comments about procedures that apply to today's hearings. Today's hearing is being broadcast live via the Parliament's website. A transcript of the hearing will be placed on the Committee's website when it becomes available. Today's hearing will contain information about violent crimes committed against the LGBTQI community that may be distressing. If you are in need of assistance I encourage you to seek support from counselling services such as QLife, ACON or Lifeline. Contact numbers for those services can be found in the brochures that are available at the back of the room and on our website. Importantly, I also give notice that, given the nature of this inquiry on hate crimes, strong and offensive language may be used in evidence. We have resolved not to suppress that. In accordance with the broadcasting guidelines, I remind media representatives that they must take responsibility for what they publish about the Committee's proceedings. Whilst parliamentary privilege applies to witnesses giving evidence today, it does not apply to what witnesses say outside of their evidence at the hearing. Therefore, I urge witnesses to be careful about comments you make to the media or to others after you have completed your evidence. Committee hearings are not intended to provide a forum for people to make adverse reflections about others under the protection of parliamentary privilege. In that regard it is important that witnesses focus on the issues raised by the inquiry's terms of reference and avoid naming individuals unnecessarily. All witnesses have rights to procedural fairness according to the procedural fairness resolution adopted by the House, which can be made available to witnesses if they do not have it. If witnesses are unable to answer a question today and they want more time to respond, they can take the question on notice. Written answers to questions on notice must be provided to the Committee within 21 days. If a witness wishes to hand up documents, they should do so through Committee staff. In terms of the audibility of the hearing today, I remind Committee members and witnesses to speak into the microphone. For those with hearing difficulties who are present in the room, please note that the room is fitted with induction loops compatible with hearing aid systems that have telecoil receivers. Finally, could everyone please turn off their mobile phones or turn them to silent for the duration of the hearing. SOCIAL ISSUES COMMITTEE Friday, 13 November 2020 Legislative Council Page 2 CORRECTED NICOLAS PARKHILL, Chief Executive Officer, ACON, affirmed and examined BRENT MACKIE, Associate Director, Policy, Strategy and Research, ACON, affirmed and examined The CHAIR: I welcome our first witnesses from ACON to the hearing. It is good to see you again. Would either of you like to make an opening statement, recognising that we have your submission? Mr PARKHILL: We welcome the opportunity to present evidence to the Standing Committee on Social Issues inquiry into gay and transgender hate crimes between 1970 and 2010. In our previous evidence, given on 9 November 2018, we outlined the history of ACON as a community-led organisation which responds to the health needs of sexuality and gender diverse people and communities in New South Wales and, more recently, across Australia. We reiterate that the issues being explored in this inquiry are not a relic of the past, but continue to affect our communities today, both through the lived experience and trauma that affect our communities and the violence that has been perpetrated against us in the past, but also in the perpetration of that violence against our communities in the here and now. We are pleased that the Committee has chosen to continue its investigation into these shameful acts and the responses to them. We are hopeful that this current iteration of the inquiry can seek to further understand the issues at hand and diversify the voices contributing to the discussion, especially in relation to people who live in rural and regional communities. We note with a solemn optimism that the effects of continued pressure in this space have been fruitful. The arrest of a man in relation to the murder of Scott Johnson in May this year was an emotional time for many. We echo the sentiments of Scott’s brother, Steve, who said of the arrest: I hope the family and friends of the other dozens of gay men who lost their lives find solace in what's happened today. Since this inquiry last met, ACON has continued to work for justice through several mechanisms. We sit on the Australian Hate Crime Network and recently attended the first meeting of the LGBTQI hate crime forum, after invitation from Chief Inspector Tony Long from the NSW Police Force Engagement and Hate Crime Unit. At a community level, we continue to work with Waverley Council and community partners to erect a memorial to the victims of hate crimes at Marks Park in Bondi. After considerable community consultation, a design has now been chosen for this important place of reflection and honour. Waverley Council has committed $100,000 to its establishment, and we have also received a very generous $66,000 donation from two community members for its construction. Construction on the monument is expected to begin in March 2021. Research continues to suggest that our communities experience poor health outcomes, poor interactions with health services and poorer mental health. In major research that is being released today by La Trobe University, known as the Private Lives 3 study, it has been found that participants—which I note included a sample size of over 6,000 LGBTQ Australians—reported high levels of violence and harassment, with more than one-third reporting verbal abuse, one-quarter reporting harassment and one in ten reporting sexual assault in the past 12 months due to their sexual orientation or gender identity. Despite efforts towards preventing and addressing stigma and discrimination of LGBTQ people in Australia, including enhanced legal rights, these findings show an increase in violence and harassment since the survey that was undertaken in 2011. In addition to the many social impacts on the lives of those who are victimised, experiences of discrimination and violence are commonly associated with poorer health. Previous research in Australia has found that verbal abuse and physical assault were associated with higher levels of feeling suicidal among gay and bisexual men. This iteration of Privates Lives found that, of those surveyed, 57.2 per cent were experiencing high or very high levels of psychological distress, while 41.9 per cent reported thoughts of suicide over the past 12 months. Many researchers posit that the ongoing impact of discrimination, violence and systemic homophobia and transphobia may contribute to these health outcomes. A commitment to the principles of justice is one way to work towards addressing these health inequities. Before we answer your questions today, once again we vocalise our utmost respect for those in our communities whose lives have been lost or affected by the issues we are discussing today. We thank those who have come forward with their stories and respect those who continue to feel too afraid to do so, noting the enormity of personal sacrifice that sharing such personal trauma requires. We seek to improve the lives of those people by contributing to a sense of justice, reducing the likelihood of these events happening again and reminding people that they are not alone and that we walk with them through this process. Again, we thank the Committee for its part in that journey. The CHAIR: I will start with questions. Welcome back. Before we started the meeting we were looking back at the time line and it was two years ago, in November 2018, that we were taking evidence in this very room on this issue. A lot has happened since then, including Scott Johnson coming to a point of justice now that someone has been charged. But at that time I made commentary in the media that there are at least 30 unsolved murders SOCIAL ISSUES COMMITTEE Friday, 13 November 2020 Legislative Council Page 3 CORRECTED and this gives hope to families, friends and lovers that there is still a chance to get justice.