NSW Transgender Health Worker Awarded $35,000 After Deadname Was Requested By Employer
Image: Inti Tupac Liberman, Mikhail Nilov / Pexels
The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) has mandated that a transgender healthcare worker be paid $35,000 after he was forced to disclose his previous names (deadnames).
The tribunal found that a name check condition, part of a Northern NSW Local Health District internal recruitment process undergone by the man in 2023, indirectly discriminated against him by forcing him to disclose to a colleague that he had previously gone by female names, thereby “outing” himself.
The worker, who identifies as a man, began working for the state health service in 2020, many years after transitioning and changing the female name assigned to him at birth. However, after internally applying for a new position in 2023, a colleague called the applicant to confirm his previous legal names.
Tribunal Deems Name Check Condition Discrimination Against Transgender People
While the worker complied with this mandatory application step, he later reported the incident to the NSW Ombudsman and Anti-Discrimination NSW. This prompted a four-day tribunal which has since found that this so-called “Former Name Check Condition”, which a 2025 People and Culture Committee forwent the opportunity to amend, indeed caused him undue harm.
“He has endured panic attacks, rapid breathing, and from time to time can only manage two to four hours of sleep when he is required to engage with (the health district) about the matter,” the tribunal found.
“He describes feeling sick to his stomach when considering he could be outed, a fact he is reminded of daily.”
The man also alleged that the name check condition prevented him from applying for higher salaried positions.
Ultimately, the tribunal ruled that a “substantial portion” of transgender people would be unable to comply with the Former Name Check Condition, and that it amounted to indirect discrimination. The man was subsequently awarded $25,000 in non-monetary compensation and $10,000 in aggravated damages or compensation.
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