Student Dress Code
Thanks to the work of Girls’ Uniform Agenda’s QLD representatives Dr Amanda Mergler and Janine Rees, the QLD Department of Education has changed its Student Dress Code Procedure. Much to our delight, the new policy and procedure, effective beginning of the school year 2019, states that;
Dress codes must:
- provide uniform options, including shorts and pants, in all uniform categories for all students, regardless of gender (p. 1).
Principals must:
- develop dress code standards that comply with relevant anti-discrimination legislation ensuring that dress codes do not give rise to unlawful discrimination against students. Shorts and pants options, in designs suitable to a student’s gender identity, must be included for all students in all uniform categories (pgs. 3-4)
‘Uniform categories’ is defined as:
- categories of uniforms determined by a school to be appropriate for different occasions or activities (e.g. formal, every day, winter, sports, extra-curricular activities) (p. 6).
Thus it is CLEAR that schools MUST provide students, both female and male, with the choice of shorts and pants, in both female and male versions. If a girl identifies as a girl and wants to wear shorts, she MUST have access to girls’ shorts and these must be able to be worn in all uniform categories. This means schools cannot force girls to wear the boys’ shorts, or to wear a dress for formal occasions (such as awards nights).
The DoE Student Dress Code procedure can be found here:
Letter for Education Department
If your school is not following the Department’s policy, or you think the policy is inadequate to ensure shorts and pants are made available to girls, write to the department so that they can take action.
Use our letter template that can be downloaded and edited here.