A music teacher who told the management of Sydney Catholic Schools she was transitioning was allegedly asked to move to a different school before being given no shifts for a year.

Sydney woman Zoe Conolan-Glen lodged a discrimination complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission in July 2024, which was referred to the federal court on 18 December, claiming the prospective school’s management also asked intrusive questions, including which staff bathroom she would use and how she would react if a parent complained about her identity.

Across New South Wales, Western Australia, Queensland and South Australia, LGBTQ+ teachers, especially those working at religious schools, can lose their jobs if they are open about their identities.

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Federally, the religious discrimination debate is at an impasse. And while rights and protections for LGBTQ+ people in NSW were strengthened with the passing of the equality bill in October 2024, many advocates raised concerns that protections for teachers and students at private schools had been dumped.

Conolan-Glen, who is being represented by Redfern Legal Centre, had worked across three schools run by Sydney Catholic Schools as a part-time music teacher since 2021.

In December 2023, she told the organisation she was a woman, and should be referred to with her correct name and pronouns.

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Conolan-Glen alleged Sydney Catholic Schools, which operates 150 schools around the city, then suggested she be moved to another school in 2024, so she would not have to explain her change in appearance to students.

She agreed to this request, but prior to the 2024 school year starting she was not allocated a new school or offered any roles that involved face-to-face teaching, as she had allegedly been led to expect would be the case.

According to Conolan-Glen’s statement of claim, the organisation allegedly sent her a letter in March 2024, expressing concern regarding her “observable male characteristics” and inviting her to take leave with no pay until the end of the year.

Conolan-Glen rejected the invitation and was then allegedly offered an administrative role without student contact, as well as an offer to take unpaid leave.

In June 2024, at a meeting with another potential school it, it is alleged a senior staff member questioned Conolan-Glen on what bathroom she would use, how she would respond to intrusive questions from students about her identity and what she would do if a parent complained.

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The staff member also allegedly suggested that before Conolan-Glen started at the school, Sydney Catholic Schools“send an internal communication to all staff informing them that [she] was a transgender woman,” the statement of claim said.

When she did not agree, the statement of claim detailed, Sydney Catholic Schools did not proceed with allocating her to the school.

In a statement, Conolan-Glen told Guardian Australia that all she ever wanted to do was teach.

“I’ve been teaching my whole working life,” she said. “My parents and grandparents were teachers. That’s all I want to do, and my gender shouldn’t be a barrier to that.”

A spokesperson for Sydney Catholic Schools said they could not comment as the matter was before the federal court.

“Sydney Catholic Schools have filed our response to the claims of anti-discrimination made in the case and believe it is essential for the privacy and dignity of all involved that we limit comment,” the spokesperson said.

In 2024, research from Equality Australia found discrimination against LGBTQ+ people was endemic in religious schools and organisations around the country.

Equality Australia’s CEO, Anna Brown, said students and teachers are routinely discriminated against because of their identities.

“We know of students who have been forced out of school or told they are going to hell, and we know of teachers who have been fired from their jobs or denied promotions,” she said.

“For every person who speaks out there are countless more who have been discriminated against, or are hiding who they are, because they want to keep their jobs or stay in school.”