Gender and sexuality diverse (GSD) students, often referred to by the acronym LGBTQ+, frequently report challenges at school related to experiences of marginalisation and harassment. GSD students’ lower levels of wellbeing and belonging, driven by these negative experiences, can lead to disengagement and withdrawal from school as a means of self-protection. Conversely, not only are positive curricular and policy inclusions protective factors for GSD students, international research highlights the links between schools’ inclusivity of gender and sexuality diversity (likewise abbreviated as “GSD”) and positive outcomes for all students, including higher school attendance and better mental health.

Governments’ primary policy response to date has been to strengthen educators’ responses to school-based bullying. While important, such approaches can miss the influential systemic factors, such as the impact of school cultures and representation of GSD perspectives and people in curriculum. In a climate of declining school attendance across the board, what policy shifts might unlock practice changes to support and retain GSD students?

The journey to LGBTQ+ inclusion has begun

The NSW Department of Education has embarked on a welcome cultural shift regarding inclusion of this area of diversity. Building on research into the experiences of GSD staff in NSW public schools, which documented discrimination and disadvantage, the Department’s Pride in Education staff network was launched in 2020. This network is featured in the Department’s “Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Strategy 2023-26”.

In both the 2024 and 2025 Australian LGBTQ+ Inclusion Awards, the NSW Department of Education secured a Silver Tier award for employers, and in 2025, Murat Dizdar, Department Secretary, was named CEO of the year. These awards offer important recognition of the Department’s visible efforts to support GSD staff in NSW public schools. This public-facing commitment has been clear through the Department’s marching in Mardi Gras since 2023, with the most senior staff and the NSW Minister of Education present for 2025’s march.

Further, some curriculum areas give teachers the option to include GSD-inclusive content. The NSW Department of Education is currently working with Qtopia, Sydney’s centre for queer history, on excursion opportunities for students and curriculum-aligned education resources. This is all laudable.

There are also several examples where the Department has supported work at a school level to build inclusive cultures for GSD students. The Proud Schools Initiative (2011-2013) – wherein educators from 12 schools across Sydney and the Hunter Valley were supported via ongoing professional learning to address pervasive homophobic bullying – was evaluated as successful. Independent evaluators noted that using “a whole-of-school approach was more effective than single strategies in bringing about positive changes”.

There are currently numerous schools throughout the state working to strengthen wellbeing and engagement outcomes for their GSD students, with the support of the Department. This includes Northlakes High School, which came under fire from a minority of parents for the inclusion of nonbinary pronouns in their student toilet signage. The NSW Minister for Education and Early Learning later defended the school’s actions in Parliament.

The NSW Department of Education is in a prime position to build on this strong foundation and scale its efforts up to a more formal state-wide school approach. With this in mind, senior Department officials met in August with the NSW LGBTIQ+ Advisory Council to explore what a state-based inclusion strategy for education could include.

How do we build on this change to support students?

Whilst progress has been made on the experiences of GSD staff, evidence shows that the student experience could also be improved. Access to GSD student voices through research in NSW public schools has been difficult for some time, in part due to a freeze on research approvals during (and in the aftermath of) the COVID-19 pandemic.

National survey research with GSD high school students (aged 13-18) recruited outside of school settings highlights unacceptable levels of verbal homophobia and transphobia, as well as physical harassment of students based on their actual or assumed sexuality and gender identities. This research further details the significant relationship between GSD-inclusive policy and curriculum and GSD students’ wellbeing and academic outcomes and trajectories.

From listening to parents’ journeys working with schools to support their GSD children, we know the importance of a supportive school environment, the extent of parental labour required in lieu of institutional support, and the negative impact ill-prepared schools can have on young GSD children.

Bullying is a strong focus for the NSW Department of Education. But bullying is only one approach – and it is grounded in risk management, meaning it does not address the causes of bullying at a cultural level. Bullying in schools will be reduced if we can take steps to address its systemic drivers. Relevant measures include:

• Reducing the invisibility and associated stigma surrounding GSD.
• Improving teachers' skills and confidence to address transphobia and homophobia.
• Embedding mandatory, positively-oriented GSD-inclusive content in the curriculum.
• Reducing gendered uniform choices.
• Reducing the tacit permission given to other students to police bathroom spaces.
• Addressing the absence of progress flags and other GSD-inclusive signage.

The NSW Department of Education promotes important policy in this area through their legal issues bulletins #20 (LIB20) and #55 (LIB55), which address student name changes and support for transgender students in schools.

The Department’s “Controversial issues in schools” policy also provides guidance on how teachers should discuss issues on which “people hold strong differing views”. However, the policy does not offer specific guidance on GSD as a content area. The current lack of state-endorsed guidance resources for how to address potential controversy associated with these topics leads many schools to take few steps.

Educators understandably fear moral panics and parents’ vocal resistance to GSD-inclusive discussions. Importantly, though, recent nationally representative research shows that public school parents overwhelmingly support GSD inclusion to improve the school climate for all students and more accurately represent Australian society.

Given the current momentum in this space, the most impactful thing the Department could do next is to give clear, public permission and policy support to those in schools working towards positive inclusion, belonging and retention of GSD students.

This could take the form of a “Dear Colleagues” letter or bulletin from the minister or the department secretary, sent to leadership staff at all schools and posted online, advising teaching staff that they are permitted to: (a) teach students about GSD and (b) articulate that “it’s ok” to be GSD.

Accompanying this, to demonstrate practical support, would be instructions for schools to redirect complaints to a central departmental contact. This is crucial to shift accountability and associated labour away from individual educators or schools. We know that negative parent responses are often mobilised by out of area advocates, meaning such pushback is better dealt with at the departmental level. In conjunction, the Department could sponsor local parent forums, staffed by trained senior staff, for open “myth-busting” and allowing parents to engage with curriculum resources.

Second, the Department could work closely with its State Education Research and Partnerships (SERAP) school-based research evaluation and approvals team, to enable research that includes a GSD focus in public schools. Carefully conducted, expert-led research is necessary to provide refined, nuanced guidance based on educators’ and school communities’ experiences. Where positive school cultural shifts are happening, evaluation will allow for scaling up effective practices.

Building on these recommendations, other work could follow. Language that positions GSD-inclusivity as an optional extra (e.g., “as suits the school community”) within departmental resources and state curriculum should be revised. This would signal the importance of such content to educators in every school.

Stage-specific curriculum guidance, with links to resources that are endorsed by the Department, are also crucial for inclusion. Many excellent, research-informed resources already exist and federally approved lesson plans could be channelled by the Department directly to NSW public schools.

Further, guidance for generating whole-of-school cultural shifts, including scripting for how to address GSD bias-based discrimination with educative responses, are needed to increase educators’ confidence.

In the longer term, the Department could offer professional development for educators and schools. This could be accompanied by tailored GSD-inclusive curriculum guidance and training for teachers working with specific populations such as schools in rural and regional areas, with high numbers of new migrants, serving faith-based communities, and with children that have additional needs.

Policy must signal permission

The NSW Department of Education has taken important steps to build more equitable public schools for GSD staff, to reduce bullying and to promote inclusion. The next step is to clearly signal both permission and support for all school leaders and educators to work locally, so that GSD students feel they belong and stay engaged.

There are GSD students in every school community. It is time to ensure our schools understand and respond to this.

Dr Jacqueline Ullman is Associate Professor in the School of Education at Western Sydney University. She is co-Editor in Chief of the journal Gender and Education and has held multiple Australian Research Council grants in the area of gender and sexuality diversity inclusivity in education and in workplaces. Dr Ullman is a recipient of the Australian Association for Research in Education’s Raewyn Connell Award in recognition of her significant leadership and field-building in sexuality, gender and queer research in education. She is a former member of APPI’s Research Advisory Group.

Dr Cris Townley is a Research Fellow at Western Sydney University, a sociologist whose research explores what happens when we put the child, young person and family at the centre of the nexus between service delivery and education. This requires an intersectional approach, that recognises the multiplicity of identities lived by children, young people and families, and requires listening to their voices. Cris works collaboratively with partners to ensure that research supports change through informed policy and practice. As a member of a WSU research team, Cris is a recipient of a Policy Challenge Grant from APPI. Their report, “Building resilient Australian communities”, was published in January 2025.

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