Inclusive school environments have been shown to improve educational outcomes, retention, mental health and overall wellbeing for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) students. Anti-bullying approaches have been common strategies used in schools to promote safety for all students, yet a well-established critique…

Indigenous LGBTIQSB+ individuals occupy a unique intersection of identities that inform their lived experiences and the ways in which they navigate colonial settler educational institutions. Despite a considerable body of evidence demonstrating the importance of inclusion, educational policies in Australia remain outdated. These policies are…

LGBTIQA+ youth in Australia have reported negative experiences in secondary schooling contexts (Hill et al., 2021) despite governing bodies prioritising inclusion and wellbeing for all students (Department of Education, 2022). The objective of this study was to undertake a scoping review of research on LGBTQIA+ inclusive policies and their impact…

This paper is a making, a cartography that maps gender equity policy in Australian education. I suggest that entrenched reductive sexist, racist, homo/transphobic and misogynistic practices have not significantly shifted materially since the implementation of inaugural gender equity programs in the 1970s, despite the investment of much money,…

Australia achieved marriage equality in 2017, following a controversial and divisive postal survey which invited all Australians to 'vote' on whether same-sex couples should be allowed to marry. The 'No' campaign focused on the alleged negative impact of marriage equality on children's education. Scare-mongering television clips claimed that boys…

Aim: The dominance within educational settings of a traditional, binary model of gender is associated with negative outcomes for children and young people, particularly those who identify as transgender or gender diverse (TGD). The purpose of this study is to review contemporary practices in educational settings to support TGD students. Method: A…

LGBTIQ children and adolescents experience disproportionate levels of bullying. "Safe Schools," an Australian anti-bullying program, has recently been a site of public debate, with parents and their imagined concerns being central to the debate. This study investigated how parents construct gender, sexuality, and bullying, in relation to…

This paper reports on an Australian national investigation of parents of school-aged children attending government schools. The research objective was to ascertain what parents thought in relation to gender and sexuality diversity-related content inclusions in the curriculum, and how a subset of these parents who had a gender and sexuality diverse…

The Safe Schools Coalition Australia's teaching resource All of us, or 'Safe Schools', as it became known, was subjected to unrelenting attack from politicians in the Australian Parliament. This paper draws on analysis of the Australian Parliamentary Hansard, examining 18,000 words spoken about Safe Schools by Senators and Members of Parliament…

Australian and international research consistently indicates that inclusive school cultures improve the educational outcomes and health and wellbeing of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) students. Little is known, however, about how Tasmanian school staff are supporting LGBTI students or the needs of teachers and school…

This paper considers the different experiences for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (GLBTIQ) students from rural and urban education contexts. It draws on data from three studies of GLBTIQ students I have conducted since 2010, including a 2010 online survey of 3,134 GLBTIQ students in which one fifth came from rural areas; a…