Ian Purcell Oration 2025: Honouring a Legacy, Advancing Equality

On 2 November 2025, the annual Ian Purcell Oration was held in Adelaide, hosted by the South Australian Rainbow Alliance (SARAA). This important event commemorates the life and legacy of the late Ian Purcell AM, one of South Australia’s greatest LGBTIQA+ advocates, and provides a platform to highlight critical issues facing LGBTIQA+ South Australians today.

This year’s oration was delivered by Anna Brown OAM, a leading voice for equality and justice. Anna reflected on the 50th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality in South Australia, reminding attendees of the progress achieved while emphasising the urgent need to maintain momentum for LGBTIQ+ communities.

A Conversation on Progress and Protection

Guided by questions posed by SARAA's CEO- Varo, Anna spoke on a wide range of topics relevant to the community. She shared her own experience of coming out, reflecting on the climate of prejudice and fear that forced many to hide their identities.

Anna highlighted the need to strengthen discrimination laws, while reinforcing that a Human Rights Act could be a powerful influencer of governmental decision-making, ensuring that decisions are made through a human rights lens.

She also addressed the need for stronger protections in employment, particularly in faith-based schools, where members of the LGBTIQ+ community continue to face discrimination.

On hate speech, Anna was unequivocal:

“I think it is well past time that South Australian LGBTIQA+ people had protections against hate speech. From our perspective, it is really important that those protections have both criminal and civil elements.”

Intersex Inclusion and Law Reform

Importantly, Anna included words about intersex issues, acknowledging the unique challenges faced by people with innate variations of sex characteristics. She stated:

“We are very proud to work alongside InterAction to make sure that the lives of intersex people in this country are valued and ultimately improved by law reform.”

On medical interventions, Anna reinforced the importance of bodily autonomy:

“If a procedure can be deferred until the child is old enough to consent and make that decision for themselves, it should be deferred. So nothing that isn't absolutely medically necessary should be done to that child without that child's consent.”

Anna spoke about progress in the ACT and shared hopes for Victoria:

“Our hope is that Victoria will be the next cab off the rank and we are working on a report that we hope to release in early December that will be the result of a number of FOI applications in hospitals around the country so there'll be new data and accompanying that data and the analysis will be the case studies and stories of intersex people across the country sharing their experiences with the medical profession and I would hope that things could be done better. This isn't about attacking doctors necessarily, it's about supporting better quality decision making in our hospitals, and making sure that children and families have the best available care, and that those decisions are made really carefully because these are high stakes and these children deserve the best quality decision making for these processes.”

Facing Challenges Together

Anna spoke about the importance of bringing humanity to conversations, recalling how vital this was during the marriage equality campaign. She also warned of the large amounts of funding, particularly from the US, being directed towards anti-rights movements targeting LGBTIQ+ communities.

She highlighted the rise of supposed “women’s organisations” that are in fact anti-trans hate groups, noting their significant financial backing compared to grassroots movements:

“We are brave, we are strong, we are resilient, but we aren't incredibly well funded.”

Honouring Ian Purcell’s Legacy

The Ian Purcell Oration continues to be a vital space for reflection, dialogue, and action. By commemorating Ian Purcell’s tireless advocacy, the event honours his legacy while ensuring that the fight for equality remains alive and urgent.

Anna Brown’s oration reminded us that progress is never guaranteed. It must be defended, expanded, and made real in the lives of all LGBTIQA+ South Australians. Her words reinforced the need for stronger laws, a human rights framework, and solidarity across the rainbow- including legislative change to protect South Australians with innate variations of sex characteristics.