Transgender Student’s Discrimination Case Against Citipointe College Set To Proceed

A Brisbane based transgender university student, Emmey Leo, has secured a significant legal victory in her ongoing fight against alleged discrimination at Citipointe Christian College.

The Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) has dismissed the school’s attempt to strike out her claim, allowing it to proceed into a full hearing.

Citipointe, a conservative faith-based college in Carindale, had sought dismissal of Leo’s complaint on grounds of procedural delays and missed tribunal deadlines.

The school, alongside then‑principal Brian Mulheran, argued that such delays warranted termination of the case. However, QCAT Senior Member Samantha Traves ruled otherwise, stating that the delays were attributable to Leo’s former legal team at the LGBTI Legal Service, not to Leo herself.

Traves noted the college suffered “little, if any, prejudice” from the delays, while Leo would suffer “serious” consequences if her case were dismissed.

She highlighted that Leo, a young IT student at the Queensland University of Technology, had “no capacity to understand or act on the tribunal’s directions in circumstances where her legal representatives did not forward them to her or inform her about them.”

The discrimination complaint, referred to QCAT in April 2024 by the Queensland Human Rights Commission, alleges both direct and indirect discrimination relating to Leo’s transgender identity, affecting her access to education and services at the college.

This legal battle follows on from the college’s 2022 controversy when they made national headlines. That year, Citipointe released an enrolment contract allowing for exclusion of students based on gender identity or sexuality, branding homosexuality as “sinful and offensive to God”.

The backlash included student and staff departures, a rally in King George Square, and intervention from Queensland education authorities. Citipointe withdrew the contract and Mulheran resigned amid swirling public condemnation.

With QCAT allowing the case to advance, Leo’s next step is a substantive hearing, where evidence will determine whether Citipointe breached her rights under anti‑discrimination laws.