LGBTI is a collective term referring to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex people. Some cultures, however, do not have specific terms to describe people with an alternative sexual orientation or those who identify as another gender.
Homosexuality was a criminal offence in Australia under the influence of British imperial law. In New South Wales, men who engaged in same-sex intercourse were sentenced to life imprisonment until 1924. In Victoria, on the other hand, homosexual acts were punishable by death until 1949.
Although different states started decriminalising homosexual acts after South Australia changed its law in 1975, it wasn’t until 1997 when Tasmania became the last Australian jurisdiction to legalise homosexual acts.
A 2018 joint report by the Human Rights Law Centre, La Trobe University and Gay and Lesbian Health Victoria estimates that up to 10 per cent of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer Australians are still subject to conversion therapy.
