ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the historical, political, legal and institutional context that has framed the work of the LGBTI movement in Australia. It argues that the political, legal and institutional context had a significant influence on the strategies pursued by the Australian LGBTI movement, including how the movement framed demands and the sites at which it engaged in struggle. While progress at the federal level may have temporarily stalled during this time, a sophisticated use of Australia's federal system, the mobilization of Australia's international human rights machinery and the movement's efforts to influence the federal Labor Party policy enabled considerable successes. Given its responsibility to ensure Australia complies with its international human rights obligations, the AHRC launched the inquiry to investigate compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Discrimination Convention 1958.
