Who we are

We are a group of SCEGGS Alumni who are opposed to the Religious Discrimination Bill that is currently being discussed in the Australian Parliament. We believe it is important for community members to speak out against this divisive and discriminatory Bill.

We are proud to be graduates of a school that welcomes everyone. Our principal, Jenny Allum has made it clear that we do not discriminate at SCEGGS. In 2018 Jenny Allum wrote a letter to parents affirming that SCEGGS "welcomes all - regardless of age, race, sexual orientation or religion” and that "students, staff, parents and alumni, who are members of the LGBTIQ community … are warmly welcome at SCEGGS.”

We believe that it is unacceptable for schools to discriminate against LGBTI+ students, parents or staff, and particularly transgender students, under the guise of ‘religious freedom’. It is well known that LGBTI+ people, especially young people, are at higher risk of psychological distress and self harm, including suicide. The statistics are worse for transgender people aged 14-25, who are significantly more likely to have attempted suicide than their non-LGBTI+ peers. This is often due to homophobia and transphobia within classrooms and the broader society. We find it appalling that discriminatory attitudes of homophobia and transphobia will be sanctioned by this Bill.

About the Religious Discrimination Bill

At the time of writing, 10 February 2022, the Religious Discrimination Bill has passed through the Lower House. We understand the Bill seeks to protect discriminatory ‘statements of belief’ from existing state-based discrimination laws, provided that they are based on genuinely held religious beliefs. The Bill will also expose other groups in our community to discrimination, including unmarried adults employed by schools and members of minority religious groups. Members of the Hindu community, for example, have expressed their concern about the potential to be sacked from jobs in faith-based organisations, including schools, if this Bill is passed. Although the Bill has been amended to protect LGBTI+ students from discrimination, it should be noted that this amendment does not protect staff.

The inherent danger of this Bill to the psychological wellbeing of LGBTI+ people, especially school students, was made clear in recent media coverage about two independent Australian schools who published discriminatory statements of faith. In Queensland, Citipointe Christian College asked families to sign enrolment contracts which stated that ‘homosexual acts’ are immoral and ‘offensive to God’ and that transgender students must identify ‘with the gender that God bestowed’. This contract listed “homosexual acts" along with with "bestiality, incest and paedophilia” as offensive to God. In NSW, Penrith Christian School has also attached a statement of faith to its enrolment application form stating that ‘same sex attraction, transgender identity … [and] sexual acts between members of the same sex … are not acceptable to God.’ These statements would be protected under the proposed Religious Discrimination Bill.

Citipointe Christian College and Penrith Christian School are using the Christian faith to justify their harmful and discriminatory policies. We believe there is nothing loving or Christian about targeting vulnerable young people, who need a school’s support, and making it clear that they will not receive it.

While LGBTI+ school students have been at the centre of the public discussion around the Bill, its provisions will affect LGBTI+ people in many more workplaces and public settings.

Our call to action

We are inviting members of the SCEGGS community - students, staff, parents and alumni - to add their names to this statement and help us circulate this message as widely as possible. We encourage you to attend the “Protest the Religious Discrimination Bill! Defend LGBTI Rights” rally on Saturday 12 February at 1pm at Town Hall, if you are in Sydney and able to do so.

We stand with LGBTI+ students against the Bill that will enable schools to shame, harm and, in some cases, expel them for their identities. We stand with LGBTI+ staff against the Bill that could see their employment terminated based on their sexuality or gender. We stand with all LGBTI+ people against the Bill that will allow businesses, care providers and religious organisations to deny them service, treatment and care.

You can add your name to the statement by signing your name below. The form doesn’t update automatically, so don’t stress if your name doesn’t show up straight away.

You can also add your name to the statement by emailing your name and year of graduation (if you are an alum) to Anna Ho (annahyho1@gmail.com), James Kong (jamesarielkong@gmail.com) or Priya Gupta (priya.j.gupta74@gmail.com).


Signed:

Alumni
Anna Ho (Class of 2018)
Priya Gupta (Class of 2018)
James Kong (Class of 2018)
Julie McCrossin AM (Class of 1971)
Dr Amelia Woods (Class of 2009)
Sophie Inwald (Class of 1971)
Stacey Gardiner (Class of 1971)
Professor Elizabeth Elliott (Class of 1974)
Pip Brown (1964 SCEGGS Moss Vale)
Jane Sunman (Class of 1968)
Shane Stuart (Class of 1971)
Emily Sunman (Class of 1994)
Lucy Sunman (Class of 2002)
Lucy Morrison (Class of 2020)
Luella Billing (Class of 1994)
Madeleine Bromwich (nee Creighton) (Class of 2011)
Tessa Sloane née Mills (Class of 2006)
Jilian Mulally (Class of 1988)
Cadence Acevedo Catt (Class of 2006)
Deni Fowle (Class of 1995)
Hannah Gibbs (Class of 2008)
Claudia Ryan (Class of 2020)
Penny Teale (Class of 1990)
Luisa Ford (Class of 1992)
Caroline Talbert (Class of 2008)
Lee Davis (Class of 2015)
Kate Dowling (Class of 1989)
Marina Carrier (Class of 2014)
Kristina Comino (Class of 2020)
Anna Noonan (Class of 2001)
Jessamine Renshaw (Class of 2020)
Zoe Vrachnas (Class of 2009)
Stella Zikos (Class of 2020)
Cindy Purvis (Class of 2019)
Toni Boritz (Class of 1965)
Eleanor O'Donnell (Class of 1982)
Isabelle Gebicki (Class of 2011)
Katarina Kuo (Class of 2020)
Poppy Lynch (Class of 2015)
Tabitha Lee (Class of 2014)
Natasha Dalby (Class of 2008)
Kate Dooley (Class of 2000)
Stephanie Hancock
Joanna Kerr (Class of 1996)
Lucy Dryland (Hartill) (Class of 2008)
Celia Strutt (Class of 2018)
Jenny Reeves (Class of 1968)
Isabelle Grbin (Class of 2017)
Taylor Aitken (Class of 2010)
Jillian Moore (Class of 1973)
Isabelle Rose (Class of 2006)
Suzanne Billing (nee Cresswell) (Class of 1965)
Kathryn Korbel (Class of 1992)
Ava Lacoon-Robinson (Class of 2019)
Charlotte Sasse (Class of 2018)
Johanna Clark (Class of 1979)
Antonia Capelin (Class of 2019)
Chloe Alvarez
Belinda Fisher (Class of 1976)
Piper Devlin (Class of 2017)
Stephanie Wright (Class of 2001)
Aurora Hawcroft (Class of 2015)
Emily Cassen (Class of 2014)
Kirstin Ross (Class of 2018)
Holly Zhang (Class of 2013)
Zoe Biggs (Class of 2019)
Emma Mills (Class of 1992)
Clare del Rosario (Class of 2005)
Amelia Biggs (Class of 2021)
Holly Tasker (Class of 2018)
Anna Douglas (Class of 2017)
Harriet McKenzie (Class of 2003)
Alice Li (Class of 2018)
Sofia (Class of 2021)
Grace Apted (Class of 2019)
Miriam Parkinson (Class of 2004)
Amelia Gledhill (Class of 1994)
Charlotte Harris (Class of 2018)
Lynne Gardiner (Class of 1962)
Reenie Condoleon (Class of 2018)
Zoe Brenner (Class of 2020)
Kirsten Shields (Class of 2018)
Naomi Taylor Royds (Class of 1981)
Georgia Gunnis (Class of 2018)
Rachael Barrowman (Class of 2006)
Mia Bodycomb (Class of 2018)
Dr Lucie Stanford (née Ball) (Class of 1991)
Ella McCutcheon (Class of 2018)
Teena Balgi (Class of 1994)
Samantha Bedford (nee Horne) (Class of 2006)
Sophie Coleman (Class of 2015)
Amber Harvey (Class of 2006)
Emma Heazlett (Class of 2018)
Isabella Sorby (Class of 2012)
Shelalagh McGovern (Class of 1988)
Talia Szekely (Class of 2017)
Isabella Freeland (Class of 2018)
India Hopper (Class of 2007)
Kate Squires (Class of 2018)
Stephanie Lusty (Class of 1999)
Julie Shea (Class of 1974)
Gabriella Croker (Class of 2012)
Stella Lintzeris (Class of 2018)
Sophie White (Class of 2017)
Genevieve Cox (Class of 2019)
Lara Series (Class of 2012)
Eleanor Fair (Class of 2018)
Fiona Hunter (née Vaughan) (Class of 1985)
Ailish Puren (Class of 2012)
Uma Volkmer (Class of 2020)
Hannah Tatam (Class of 2001)
Kate Poole (nee Munro) (Class of 1992)
Anna-Sophia Carter Omoe (Class of 2018)
Rachel Wilson (Class of 1999)
Conell Rennie (Class of 2014)
Jane Wannell (nee Walsh) (Class of 1987)
Lucienne Eagar (Class of 2018)
Ashley Marcos (Class of 2004)
Kirsty Campbell (Class of 1998)
Lucy Benuska (Class of 2018)
Taya Taleb (Class of 2018)
Ruby Valentine (Class of 2015)
Cathy Chan (Class of 1993)
Sarah Asace (Class of 2021)
Megan Carrigy (Class of 1998)
Melissa Mallos (Class of 2001)
Marissa Banu-Lawrence (Class of 2010)
Eliza Gosse (Class of 2012)
Helle Theophilatos (Class of 1989)
Gaby Dixon (nee Said) (Class of 1986)
Erica Lehm (Class of 2018)
Amanda Champion (nee Christian) (Class of 1974)
Sophie Sullivan (Class of 2021)
Naomi Cuthbert (nee Dickinson) (Class of 1968)
Irene Messenger (Class of 2018)
Yasmin Younf (Class of 2021)
Sandi Pickard (Class of 1986)
Elizabeth Pender (Class of 1998)
Taylor Browne (Class of 2013)
Christina Chipman (nee Macintosh) (Class of 1986)
Zinnia Robinson (Class of 2018)
Claire Yin (Class of 2017)
Jessica Singer (Class of 1984)
Lulu Edwards (Class of 2017)
Kirsten Ford (Class of 2013)
Rebecca Liebson (Class of 2018)
Neave Taylor (Class of 2018)
Dimiti Ruiz-Avila (Class of 2000)
Alex Howieson (Class of 1992)
Charlotte Bullock (Class of 2015)
Fiona Lumsdaine (Class of 1983)
Georgia Williams (Class of 2020)
Tara Dewar (Class of 2007)
Carla Sullivan-Myers (Class of 2006)
Sascha Everingham (Class of 2019)
Jayne Longstaff (Class of 2008)
Lucy Steigrad (Class of 2018)
Alexandra Hopper Irwin (Class of 2003)
Peter Mckenzie-Hutton (Class of 2018)
Christine Kovac (nee Meyer) (Class of 1987)
Lauren Weatherman (Class of 2015)
Nicole Stramotas (Class of 2018)
Sarah Chipman (Class of 1993)
Clare Armstrong (Class of 2017)
Olivia Doyle (Class of 2020)
Nicola Vrachnas (Class of 2005)
Sally Head (Class of 2002)
Murrae Eskell (Class of 1986)
Debbie Rutstein (Class of 1982)
Brydie Lloyd-Roberts (Class of 1995)
Katie Smythe (Class of 1998)
Christina Barriere (Class of 1986)
Fiona Millard (Class of 1982)
Alana Lessi (Class of 1989)
Katie Starcevich (nee Scott-Woodbridge) (Class of 2001)
Karynia Sommen (Class of 1990)
Lexi Sturrock (Class of 2004)
Dr Melissa Overton (nee Hammond) (Class of 2005)
Allegra Cole (Class of 2018)
Alison Piro (Class of 1990)
Julia Ward (Class of 2001)
India Powell (Class of 2019)
Emma Shirley (Class of 2019)
Amy Satchell (Class of 2002)
Maggie Lattin (Class of 1988)
Alexandra Brown (née Wallace) (Class of 2004)
Skye Simon (Class of 2002)
Antonia Morrow (Class of 2002)
Sarah Ison (nee Colman) (Class of 1979)
Alison Groves
Lucie Niederer (Class of 2013)
Cressida Beale  (Class of 1992)
Nicola Newton (Class of 2000)
Tegan Nichols (Class of 2000)
Ada Tuna (Class of 2018)
Emily Hanson (née See-Winder)
Lisa Aizenberg (Class of 2003)
Karen Guselli (nee Robinson) (Class of 1996)
Eliza Davis Beard (Class of 2015)
Matilda Ridgway (Class of 2003)
Georgia Forster (Class of 1985)
Elizabeth Pawsey (nee Pain) 1963
Sarah Fraser (Class of 1988)
Denise Sneddon (Class of 1965)
Alison Chisholm (Class of 1998)
Vanessa Crosby (Class of 1998)
Charlie James (Class of 2012)
Brigette Thorn (Class of 1990)
Arabella Hammond (Class of 2019)
Ashley Hucker (Class of 2004)
Samantha Brampton (Class of 1981)
Jane Swinton (Class of 1976)
Wendy Bower (Class of 1982)
Sarah Best (nee Bryant) (Class of 1988)
Mia Mossenson (Class of 2018)
Danya Bilinsky
Caterina Pizzinga (Class of 2020)
Renée Bennett (nee Straesser) (Class of 1992)
Alena Freiheit (Class of 2018)
Elizabeth Pawsey (nee Pain) (Class of 1963)
Alyson Parkes (née Downes) (Class of 1990)
Parker Paradiso (Class of 2018)
Sara Sullivan (Class of 2018)
Diana Sideris (Class of 2019)
Nicolle Bradford (Class of 1990)
Sibylla Deen (Class of 2000)
Zoe Davey (Class of 2001)
Trudi Arnall (Class of 1990)
Chelsey Fowler (Class of 2017)
Alison Burn (Class of 2002)
Larissa Cook (Class of 1986)
Naina Bhonagiri (Class of 2020)
Emma Moses (Class of 1990)
Meg Nelson (Class of 1990)
Emma Monckton (née Forsdick) (Class of 2003)
Alice Morgan (Class of 2000)
Sunday Hanson (Class of 2018)
Molly Blacker (Class of 2009)
Anita Paas (Class of 1998)
Zoe Hunt (Class of 2018)
Elizabeth Gordon (nee Hannah) (Class of 2011)
Alexandra Noble (Class of 2019)
Sally Chalmers (Class of 1990)
Nicole Dixon (Class of 1998)
Sophie Kuijper (Class of 2020)
Alessandra Lee (Class of 2014)
Wilhelmina (Kate) Ebbett (Class of 2004)
Alice Kotowicz (Class of 2017)
Tess Connon (Class of 2006)
Sasha Banki (Class of 2004)
Joanna Petrohilos (Class of 2013)
Georgie Harley-Macdonald (Class of 2020)
Charlotte Banki (Class of 2009)
Dr Kate Rattenbury (Class of 2009)
Olivia Satchell (Class of 2008)
Sarah Kobayashi (Class of 2009)
Georgia Scott (Class of 2010)
Catherine Dodds (Class of 2008)
Dr Alexandra Knight (Class of 1982)
Eloise Loewy (Class of 2019)
Hannah Barter (Class of 2018)
Anna Blacket (Class of 2009)
Amy Dale (Class of 2005)
Liesbeth Geerligs (Class of 2002)
Greer Brincat (Class of 2009)
Mia Gruzin (Class of 2017)
Hannah Tyler (Class of 2015)
Gemma Wilson (Class of 2013)
Emma Whitnall (Class of 2013)
Phoebe Whitnall (Class of 2013)
Luciana Teitzel (Class of 2018)
Alexandra Costigan (Class of 2009)
Catriona Denholm (Class of 2020)
Olivia Watson (Class of 2009)
Sharon Davidson (Class of 1968)
Jax Rousselot (Class of 2017)
Eliza Perkins (Class of 2015)
Rosemary Perry (Class of 1968)
Tiffiny Lewin (nee Dowe) (Class of 1987)
Catie Macdonald (Class of 2002)
Kate Stewart (Class of 1996)
Olivia Clark (Class of 2009)
Pamela Thomson (née Finch) (Class of 1970)
Nina Conomos (Class of 1968)
Jessica Hedstrom (Class of 2008)
Milica Mitreska (Class of 2012)
Tully Wallace-Smith (Class of 2015)
Molly O’Sullivan (Class of 2016)
Angela Ha (Class of 2012)
Grace Dallen (Class of 2016)
Louise Bodlander (Class of 1996)
Sarah Warburton (Class of 1993)
Elizabeth Armour (Class of 2019)
Anna Matchett (Class of 2015)
Katherine Gibson (Class of 1971)
Melissa Leabeater (Class of 1996)
Sharon Bicknell (Class of 1998)
Elizabeth Garrick (Class of 2004)
Kelly O’Connor (Class of 2004)
Leigh Melenhorst (nee Munday) (Class of 2001)
Hannah Colhoun (née Marsh) (Class of 2001)
Susan Neill née Gulson (Class of 1968)
Francis Walsh (Class of 1968)
Kathy Lew (Class of 1971)
Gayle Steiner (Class of 1970)
Elizabeth Mead (Class of 1965)
Jan Turbill (Class of 1961)
Kathy Sellers (nee Atkin) (Class of 1976)
Jennifer Winton (Class of 1961)
Odetta Quinn (Class of 2015)
Ann Snell (Class of 1998)
Hannah Colhoun (née Marsh) (Class of 2001)
Susan Neill née Gulson (Class of 1968)
Olivia Boyages (Class of 2012)
Fran Humphryis (Class of 1971)
Ella Condon (Class of 2004)
Sophie Whatling
Ida Combley (Class of 2018)
Stephanie Brookman (Class of 1968)
Leisa Tough (Class of 1994)
Anna Bradley (Class of 2000)
Laura Grant (Class of 2007)
Georgina Savage (Class of 2009)
Chrystall Neophytou (Class of 2020)
Sharon Goldie (Class of 1964)
Deborah Vine-Hall (Class of 1970)
Judith McDonald (VINE-HALL) (Class of 1972)
Olivia Schmidt (Class of 2014)
Linda Jaku (Class of 1968)
Julia Sokolovic (Class of 1999)
Jo-Anne Angelides (Class of 1971)
Georgina Taylor (nee Campbell) (Class of 1986)
Juliet Skipper-Schmidt (Class of 1982)

Staff
Jenny Allum
Charlotte Pysden
Eddi Goodfellow
Helen Dempsey
Katrina Collins
Anne Sweeney
Sophie Craddock (Class of 2013)
Garry Lee-Lindsay
Allison Harrigan
Emily Quirk
Amy Satchell (Class of 2002)
Ngaire Boyes
Zoe Thompson
Julie Hodges
Felicity Permezel
Alison Gowan
Jan Morice
Marlise Kalt
Sally Zhou
Michaela Gleave
Sandra Carter
Pauline Chow
Carol Saunders
Tom Mitton
Heidi Jackson
Genevieve Dally-Watkins
Ken Emeleus
Dynielle Whitney
Belinda Hale
Joanne Bower
Luke Hanson
Helen Giles
Chris Barrett
Susan Zipfinger
Anita Tesoriero
Scott Lankshear
Elizabeth Walsh (Class of 2000)
Sarah Burton
Lanneke Jones
Rico Antico
Melinda Chadwick
Daisy Bahen
Louisa Dawson (Class of 1997)
Mia Sharma (Class of 2001)
Ally Panfil
Xante Axford (Class of 2006)
Prudence Heath
Sarah Johnstone
Lexy Vassett
Peter Eyers
Kristy Williams
Gerard Hynes
Christi Wilsmore
Kylie Brennan
Michelle Demaine
Sarah Walters
Aileen Grattan-Smith
Rebecca L'Estrange
Brittany Robbins
Eloise Ford
Emily Buckley
Laura Deadman
Joseph Guss

Parents
Melissa Gibson
Katherine Grace
Annabel Matison
Daintree Peters
Qian Guo
Melanie Booth
Kate Hickey
Leanne Hegarty
Jodi Murphy
Joanna Elliott
Kasey Drayton
Belinda Walter
Karen Niederer
Yolande White
Robyn Head
Fleur Bitcon
Robert Dempsey
Sri Susanty
Claire Hung
Julie Ford
Janelle Irvine (Class of 1967)
Tanya Jones
Meghan Darnell Smith (Class of 1991)
Debra McVicar
Grant Doyle
Lisa Hammond
Letetia Gibbs
Vanessa Liell (Class of 1988)
Denise Sneddon (Class of 1965)
Alison Chisholm (Class of 1998)
Vanessa Crosby (Class of 1998)
Vanessa Liell (Class of 1988)
Jacqueline Straesser (Class of 1990)
Zoe Hart (Class of 1996)
Anna Feller
Helen Petrohilos
Lisa Taylor
Kate Robinson
Stuart Comino
Christa Lenard
Lee Thompson
Katrina Syrkiewicz
Barbara Matchett
Kate O’Brien
Britta Galfetti Neve
Gaye Murrills
Daniel Crisafulli

Other
Sarah Stuart-Jones
Howard Billing
Alexandra Ryan
Sarala Jayasekera
Sherina Ratnapalasari
Gemma Karagiannis
Henry Croaker
Melanie Bolton
Luke Wesselingh
Angelina Nguyen
Saschia McRae
Joy England