A new Education Department policy has explicitly detailed how public schools should accommodate transgender school students.
They will be able to use their preferred names, uniforms and use the toilets of their choice. They will also be able to sleep alongside students of the gender they identify with on school camps.
“The difference is that this clearly articulates what we require from schools,” executive director of statewide services and child development Ann-Marie Hayes told The Advertiser.
“We had a number of queries from schools and parents, and we needed to make it very clear what our legislative requirements were and how schools enact them – supporting principals in particular but also families in what they can expect from schools.”
Hayes stressed it applies to transgender students whose identity had been discussed with parents and confirmed by health professionals.
The policy is designed to “send a message of tolerance” to students.
