The Australian State of South Australia has lagged behind the likes of Victoria and Australian Capital Territory (ACT) when it comes LGBT rights.

That is set to change in both a legislative and symbolic way next week.

South Australia Premier Jay Weatherill announced today that he will make a public apology in the South Australia Parliament to LGBTI communities for the way that they have been treated by the state in the past.

The apology will comes as the Legislative House discusses, and is expected to pass, four key pieces of legislation affecting gay and transgender people.

These include: allowing same-sex couples to adopt children; a bill making it easier for people to register a change in gender; another bill making it easier for non-heterosexual people to access reproductive treatment; and a bill that will allows same-sex couples married overseas to have their relationship recognized in the state.

The four pieces of legislation passed the State’s Lower House last week, and will be debated in the Upper House from Tuesday.

A press statement today from Weatherill’s office said that he, ‘will apologise to LGBTIQ community members wronged by historical laws in State Parliament on Thursday, December 1.

On his Facebook page, Weatherill said, ‘For far too long, discrimination against our LGBTIQ community has been written into our state’s laws, causing pain and distress for many South Australians.

‘I will deliver an apology for this discrimination on behalf of the South Australian House of Assembly on Thursday 1 December, at approximately 3.30pm in State Parliament.

‘This apology follows the recent passage of a number of bills though the House of Assembly that, if passed by the Legislative Council, will right many of the wrongs of the past.’

On Thursday 1 December, I will be delivering an apology to SA’s LGBTIQ community on behalf of the South Australian House of Assembly. https://t.co/e1DDVwhfjq — JayWeatherill (@JayWeatherill) November 25, 2016

Weatherill’s apology will be broadcast live online and on his Facebook page.

Earlier this year, British man, Marco Bulmer-Rizzi, was left ‘devastated’ by the death of his husband, David, whilst the two were on honeymoon in Adelaide.

His grief was compounded by the fact that the state of South Australia did not recognize their relationship and officials put on David’s death certificate that he had ‘never married’.

The new legislation, if passed next week, will ensure that this does not happen again.

In a moving post on his Facebook page, Bulmer-Rizzi described how he felt when the South Australia Lower House passed the legislation last week recognizing the relationships of same-sex couples married abroad.

‘It’s not shocking to see how quickly I get overwhelmed nowdays. But this is different.,’ he wrote. ‘After the onslaught of negativity and fears in the news lately, this morning at 3AM when I was glued to the SA Parliament website I had goosebumps running in my spine.

‘I had goosebumps for all the couples that are one step closer to be able to just get on with loving one another and being recognised for who they really are in their partner’s life. I got goosebumps for how far this has come.’