Whilst the topic of same-gender marriage is a very important (but contentious) issue in the LGBT rights community, another big challenge faces same gender families: adoption.

For various reasons same gender couples look to adoption as a way of adding to their family. Whilst few could argue with someone’s wishes to introduce a child into a loving home and give them a good upbringing, for same gender couples doing so requires them to jump through a ridiculous amount of hoops. In fact, in some places adoption by same-gender parents is prohibited.

Despite being the first state in Australia where a child was born following IVF surrogacy, the rest of Victoria’s policies have remained archaic and adoption policies in the state have been recommended for reform for years. The country’s very first minister for quality now wants to change that though, by bringing Victoria in line with the rest of the country.

Sworn in last week, Minister of Equality Martin Foley is the first person to hold the title. Never before has Australia appointed someone specifically for LGBTQ issues but now that’s exactly what Foley will be focusing on.

After his role was made official, Foley said that Labor (the party he is part of) would tackle Victoria’s lacking adoption policies where same gender couples in the state can be appointed as foster parents or guardians but they cannot adopt a child together. Nor can a step-parent adopt their partner’s child or jointly adopt a child conceived through IVF.

The move signals the Labor Party’s attempts at keeping in line with the official stance they adopted in May of this year. They added same gender adoption rights to their platform and so this marks some serious progress on that front.

But adoption isn’t the only LGBTQ rights issue that Foley and his party will be tackling. Also on the agenda is an amendment to the Relationships Register so that same gender couples married in other countries can have their marriages recognised in Victoria, rewriting laws to prevent discrimination for sexual orientation (or religious beliefs) in the workplace and requiring secondary schools to have programs that support gay students.

Foley also expressed that his appointment is an important step in the LGBTQ rights movement and that these issues are something that his party wants to get right. So it’s early days yet but we’ll keep you posted on any outcomes.