The Australian state of Victoria is regarded as one of the country's most progressive jurisdictions with respect to the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) people.

[11] However, a loosely worded "soliciting for immoral purposes" clause, inserted by dissident Liberals, saw police continue to harass homosexual men until the late 1980s.

[11][13] Additional rights organisations followed, including the Homosexual Law Reform Coalition in 1975 and the Gay Teachers Group in the late 1970s,[14] both of which were also based in Melbourne.

In 1976, The Age reported that police had used entrapment to make mass arrests at Victoria's Black Rock Beach which angered the LGBT community and gave the issue wide public attention across Australia.

[11] Implemented by royal assent on and since 1 March 2022 (now an Act) – any remaining draconian legislation banning sex between consenting adults in private within Victoria were finally removed and repealed.

[26][27][28] The scheme came into effect on 1 September 2015, and since that date an individual or an appropriate representative of a deceased person can apply to expunge historical convictions for homosexual sexual activity, that is no longer a criminal offence.

On 24 May 2016, the Victorian Government issued a formal apology, delivered in Parliament, to the LGBT community, specifically men, who had been charged with homosexual offences in the state prior to its decriminalisation in 1981.

[48][49] The bill passed the Legislative Council on 10 December 2015, with a key amendment attached creating a provision for the register to "conduct a ceremony in connection with the registration of a relationship".

[63] A review of Victoria's adoption laws, commissioned by former chief parliamentary counsel Eamonn Moran QC, handed a final report to the Minister on 8 May 2015.

[70] Despite passage, the government failed to attract sufficient support for a clause in the bill which prevented faith-based organisations from being able to refuse adoption orders for same-sex couples, as conservative Liberal/National and minor party councillors voted against it.

The convenor of support group Gay Dads attributes the low number to the long drawn-out bureaucratic process involved in adopting children (by anyone) in Victoria.

[88] The proposed changes would also mean drastic reforms to surrogacy which, while technically legal, was practically impossible in Victoria; a woman would no longer have to be clinically infertile to be a surrogate mother.

[95][96] In July 2021, a loophole in Victorian legislation was discovered and used recently to legally "withdraw consent contracts of their sperm donation and embryos to certain recipients or groups (e.g. singles and same-sex couples)".

[98][99][100] In July 2020, it was reported by the Australian media Star Observer that "rainbow" birth certificates became available for same-sex parents since March 2020 – due to the 10th anniversary of the Victoria government passing laws on IVF and surrogacy equality back in January 2010.

[104][105][106] There are even unfounded claims without evidence, that the anti-vilification bill will and would remove cisgender biological women’s rights within Victoria - only because it explicitly included “gender identity”.

In June 2022, a bill formally passed and assented to became an Act legally banning "any public display" of Nazi symbols with an explicit 1-year jail sentence and a $22,000 fine – a first for a jurisdiction within Australia.

[112] In 2023, there were deep concerns within the LGBT community that rising hatred, misinformed and rhetoric towards transgender individuals and drag queens—orchestrated by extreme right-wing groups and/or neo-nazi organizations within Melbourne on several occasions right in front of the Parliament of Victoria.

[124] In December 2014, the Labor Government promised to rewrite equal opportunity laws to make it harder for faith-based organisations, such as schools, to discriminate against certain employees because of their sexual orientation and religious beliefs.

[135] In September 2021, the government announced it would introduce legislation to remove the exemption for religious schools and organisations "discriminate against an employee because of their sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status or other protected attribute".

The Commissioner has a broad role aimed at integrating the advocacy of LGBTI rights within the Government;[144] some of these initiatives included streamlining federal and state laws to ensure passports and birth certificates align with a person's affirmed gender, and strengthening anti-discrimination protections in the workplace for transgender workers.

[150] A specific and targeted investigation was launched by the watchdog into the practice in May 2018, raising the spectre of financial punishment and criminal prosecution for rogue operators.

[151] In February 2019, the newly re-elected Labor Government announced it would introduce legislation at a later date that would clearly and unequivocally denounce conversion practices and prohibit them in law – following a recommendation issued by the Health Complaints Commissioner.

[173][174] In September 2021, the center-right Liberal party (as the opposition) made a formal announcement by promising to repeal the conversion therapy law – if they win government in November 2022 (at the Victoria state election).

[178] Gender identity is a recognized and protected attribute under Victorian anti-discrimination law, meaning a transgender person cannot be discriminated against in employment and in other areas of life.

[179] However, exemptions in the Equal Opportunity Act (2010) allow religious organisations, such as adoption/fostering agencies and charities, that do not receive government funding to discriminate against and reject LGBT employees and clients.

The legislation allows applicants to self-nominate the sex listed on their birth registration as male, female, or any other gender diverse or non-binary descriptor of their choice.

[192] An approval process, similar for offenders changing their name, whereby a supervising authority needs to consider the reasonableness of the application, and security and welfare issues associated with it, is incorporated in the bill.

The Labor Party, the Greens and some crossbenchers were supportive, though Liberal/National members voted against the legislation, citing alleged concerns regarding the safety of women in single-sex spaces and the potential for applicants to abuse the system.

[204][205][206][207][208] In October 2021, both the Star Observer and the ABC reported that the Victorian government plans to legally ban intersex surgery on babies and infants.

[209][210] In April 2021, all workplaces within Victoria under an order-in-council are legally required to have policies of gender-neutral bathrooms access to be provided for any individual – regardless of sex or gender identity.