Sexual orientation and gender identity in the Australian military

LGBTI personnel are also supported by the charity DEFGLIS, the Defence Force Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender and Intersex Information Service.

Gay and lesbian personnel who evaded this ban ran the risk of being dismissed from the military if their sexual orientation was discovered; this tended to be more strictly enforced during peacetime than wartime.

This statement maintained the ban on homosexual behaviour among service personnel, on the grounds that it would erode command relationships and morale, raise risks of blackmail, create health problems and endanger minors.

In 1992 a female reservist in the Australian Army made a complaint to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission on the basis that she was dismissed on the grounds of homosexuality.

[3] Senator Ray's decision led to significant outrage and was opposed by several Labor party politicians of the day, including Attorney-General Michael Duffy.

[4] In response Prime Minister Paul Keating established a special Labor Caucus Committee to examine the possibility of removing the ban on LGBT personnel in the military, to be chaired by Senator Terry Aulich.

[5][6] By September 1992, the committee had returned with a recommendation to remove the ban by four votes to two, with support from Aulich, Stephen Loosley, Olive Zakharov and Duncan Kerr and opposition from Ted Grace and Brian Courtice.

[4] Despite opposition to change from certain military groups and the RSL, this recommendation received support from Human Rights Commissioner Brian Burdekin and Attorney General Michael Duffy.

Following the meeting, Prime Minister Paul Keating announced that the Government had decided to end discrimination preventing homosexual people serving in the defence forces, effective immediately.

"[10] This outcome was heavily influenced by a perception in Cabinet that if they did not lift the ban, the issue would continue to be raised and the ADF needed to adapt to the changing social attitudes towards homosexuality as soon as possible.

[20] The policy was updated following the advocacy of Captain Bridget Clinch, who lodged a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission when the Army sought to dismiss her when she began the process of transitioning.

[24] The ADF's financial support for gender dysphoria treatment was criticised in October 2017 by conservative politicians including Pauline Hanson, Cory Bernardi and Andrew Hastie.

[33] Similarly, Hugh Smith states in the Oxford Companion to Australian Military History that predictions of damage to the ADF's morale and mass-resignations if the ban was lifted did not eventuate, and the reform did not lead to any widespread or long-lasting problems.