[7][8] Her GaLTaS SchoolWatch Report, and the association's landmark legal cases representing LGBT+ students and teachers led to changes in government policy that had far-reaching and longlasting impact.

Previous attempts to set up support organisations such as the similarly named 'GAYTAS' in 1978 had not survived, with same-sex relationships at that stage still a criminal offence in New South Wales until law repeal in 1984,[9] and in West Australia, Queensland and Tasmania until 1989, 1990 and 1997 respectively.

As many as 88 men were killed, including Scott Johnson, Ross Warren, Gilles Mataini and John Russell, with their deaths initially dismissed as "suicide", "accident" or otherwise "not suspicious".

[27] In February 1993, Education Minister Virginia Chadwick agreed to a meeting with GaLTaS at the New South Wales Parliament led by Derek Williams with former Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby Co-Convenor, Carole Ruthchild[28] and some of the students being subjected to homophobic victimisation and violence at their school.

[31] Following the publication of the SchoolWatch Report, this was eventually promulgated in 1996[32][33] and the New South Wales Education Department also published a revised Resources for Teaching Against Violence kit, which included a substantial section devoted to 'Violence and Homophobia'.

[34] These measures were primarily intended to reverse the escalation of ubiquitous homophobic student invective into serious crime such as assault and homicide that were having life-changing consequences not only for their victims, but also for their juvenile perpetrators.

[35][36] In March 1993, GaLTaS was awarded a Federal National Youth Grant of $30,000 (=c.$69,500 equivalent in 2024)[38] by the Department of Employment, Education and Training to establish a toll-free telephone hotline for gay and lesbian student victims of homophobic harassment and violence in schools.

[41] Research from surveys conducted by Jacqui Griffin was compiled for inclusion in The SchoolWatch Report : A Study into Anti-Lesbian and Anti-Gay Harassment and Violence in Australian Schools, with foreword by Paul O'Grady MLC and Epilogue by Derek Williams.

A group of ten students, charged with the murder of a Sydney man at a park near their High School, expressed genuine surprise upon their arrest (in camera evidence).

[55]After the defeat of the NSW Liberal Party by Labor at the 1995 New South Wales state election, Chadwick was succeeded as Education Minister by John Aquilina, who later abruptly shelved implementation of her reforms.

[61] During the Justice James Roland Wood Royal Commission into the New South Wales Police Service, Derek Williams represented GaLTaS in submissions on behalf of LGBT+ teachers and students.

[62] In an interview on the 7:30 Report by Quentin Dempster, Williams outlined the GaLTaS Code of Ethics and student welfare policy that had been revised the year before by Jacqui Griffin and adopted at a SGM in December 1995.

[53] In her article for Kevin Jennings' book One Teacher in 10, Jacqui Griffin described her experiences dealing with homophobia among students when teaching Science, some of which became case studies for such conferences.

Beyond its academic associations and liaisons with government officials, GaLTaS maintained high visibility through its participation with banners in street demonstrations of relevance to its anti-violence and anti-discrimination LGBT civil rights campaigns.

Puplick alleged the department was ignoring clear evidence of widespread vilification of gay pupils and was therefore "morally culpable" for the violence and harassment experienced by significant numbers of students.

[55] Alongside its data documenting bullying and violence against LGBT+ students, the GaLTaS SchoolWatch Report submitted to the council had by then already uncovered significant under-reporting by victims out of fear of reprisals, and outing to their families and peers.

[69] The story was taken up in major mastheads, both nationally and internationally,[73][85][86][87] but suffered entirely negative press coverage in the Daily Telegraph, which accused Tsakalos of faking it, and GaLTaS of coaching him, while also suggesting LGBT+ students deserve to be bullied.

[88] Also in 1997, again assisted by GaLTaS and Carter's Law Firm, gay student James Brilley sued his private Catholic high school, Marcellin College Randwick for breach of duty of care and anti-gay vilification.

[69] Williams told the Sydney Star Observer, "The CEO accepts public money to assist in funding their schools; they should therefore have to obey the same Anti Discrimination laws that apply to the rest of the community."

[36]Williams also told the hearing, "The aims of GaLTaS are not to promote homosexual activity…" Sidoti later commented in the report: If the employment of Ms Griffin would injure the religious susceptibilities of these students and their parents, the injury would be founded on a misconception.

In another report in the Daily Telegraph, Miranda Devine, well known for her critical comments on gender and LGBT+ issues[111] argued that anybody who is different, such as Tsakalos, is an "easy target" in the schoolyard and that preventing such harassment is impossible: In order to protect Christopher and children like him from being ostracized, you would have to make mincing homosexuality the norm in schools.

)[88] The assertion, also made by George Green, was strenuously denied as "absolute rubbish" by Tsakalos' mother, Vicky on ABC Radio, and in a letter to the Telegraph editor.

In 1992, for example, the Nine Network TV series Sex[113][5] broadcast a "Homosexuality" episode, a televised dinner hosted by actress Sophie Lee, with Australian Medical Association (AMA) President, Dr Kerryn Phelps as medical reporter,[114] Festival of Light politician and outspoken LGBT+ rights opponent, Fred Nile, as well as representatives from Parents and Citizens (P&C) associations and Williams representing GaLTaS.

[116][65] Australian States, Territories and Commonwealth jurisdictions vary greatly in their exceptions to anti-discrimination law for religious educational institutions in relation to students and staff.

On 10 April 2019, the Attorney-General issued Terms of Reference requesting the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) to conduct an Inquiry into the Framework of Religious Exemptions in Anti discrimination Legislation.

[118] Existing exemptions already gave religious and independent schools the legally protected right to expel LGBT+ students and to fire LGBT+ teaching and ancillary staff on the grounds of their real or perceived sexual orientation or gender.

[61][137] Her children's book The Adventures of Scales and Sarah about the friendship between a young girl and a chromosomally gender-flipping bearded dragon lizard in a context of climate change was self-published in 2023.

[138] In 2006, Williams moved to his ancestral Scotland[140] where he remained active in LGBT+ politics, and in 2018 he was co-opted to the Committee of the Edinburgh University Staff Pride Network, on which he is currently serving his 7th term as Meetings Secretary.

In its February 2000 edition of Parent & Citizen Journal, the P&C published an article by Griffin (Secretary of the SchoolWatch Committee), Teaching Against Homophobia, which stated: Homophobic harassment, though, begins at primary school and is intrinsically connected to gender.

[145] In 2022, the New South Wales government published its LGBTIQ+ Health Strategy 2022-2027 paper,[146] which along with the conclusive 61% 'Yes' vote in the 2017 Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey, further underlined the magnitude of the shift that had taken place in public understanding of LGBT+ identity away from its criminalisation prior to 1984.