New education policy explicitly details how public schools should accommodate transgender students in line with legal responsibilities
TRANSGENDER school students will be able to use their preferred names, wear the uniform and use the toilets of their choice, and sleep alongside students of their identified gender on school camps. VOTE NOW
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TRANSGENDER school students will be able to use their preferred names, wear the uniform and use the toilets of their choice, and sleep alongside students of their identified gender on school camps.
A new Education Department policy has, for the first time, explicitly detailed how public schools should accommodate transgender students in line with their legal responsibilities.
The department says the policy would ensure “consistent, clear” treatment of transgender pupils by school leaders, who have previously relied on the advice of bureaucrats.
“The difference is that this clearly articulates what we require from schools,” executive director of statewide services and child development Ann-Marie Hayes said.
“We had a number of queries from schools and parents, and we needed to make it very clear what our legislative requirements were and how schools enact them — supporting principals in particular but also families in what they can expect from schools.”
The policy ensures transgender students can:
USE their preferred first name and pronoun, such as she, he, or they;
ACCESS toilets and change rooms that match their gender identity;
CHOOSE from all uniform options available at the school;
SHARE sleeping quarters on school camps that correspond with their gender identity;
TAKE part in Physical Education lessons and most sports as their identified gender.
The new policy makes clear that “inflexible” dress codes — that require students to wear uniforms of a gender they do not identify with — breach anti-discrimination laws.
Ms Hayes stressed the policy applied to transgender students whose gender identity had been discussed with parents and confirmed by health professionals.
She said there was no chance that a boy could temporarily pretend to be transgender in order to sleep in girls’ dormitories on school camps.
If the wishes of transgender students to “affirm their identity” clashed with those of their parents, the policy allowed schools to “assess the best interests of the child to ensure their physical and psychological safety and wellbeing”.
However, Ms Hayes said in practice schools would always work with families and it was “highly unlikely” they would ever go against the wishes of parents, except if a student had already turned 18.
It would be an “absolute last resort” if, for example, a student was judged to be a suicide risk.
Ms Hayes said the policy would send a message of tolerance to all students.
“This is a particular group that we know get quite bullied and harassed,” she said.
“The message we are giving to peers here is we don’t support homophobia and transphobia in a school setting.”
SHine SA, which delivers the controversial Safe Schools diversity and anti-bullying program in SA, backed the policy.
Chief executive Jill Davidson said bullying of gender diverse students had “a significant impact on wellbeing, school attendance and educational outcomes”, and the policy would ensure students
“receive a quality education in a safe, supportive and inclusive environment”.
“Schools have been looking for support in this area and it is great to have formal policies that provide them with direction and guidance.”
However Roslyn Phillips, former national research officer for conservative group Family Voice Australia, said the vast majority of young people who felt they should be the opposite sex “grow out of it” if schools and doctors did not encourage it.
“It’s a real problem to single out these children and treat what they think (they are) as real,” she said.
Unley High graduate Georgina Trotta, who was part of a group of students who successfully lobbied at their school for the removal of “gender labels” from boys’ and girls’ uniforms, said the policy was “progress”.
“If people are becoming aware and trying to make a difference, then that’s good,” she said.