Greens senator Robert Simms spoke to BuzzFeed News about his maiden speech.
In his maiden speech on Tuesday, new Greens senator Robert Simms delivered a message to young LGBTI Australians: things really do get better.
"I stand here today as an out and proud gay man. But it certainly wasn't always so," Simms told the chamber.
"I remember I was around 12 when I realised I was gay, I was in my final year at primary school. It was a secret I carried for a long time – indeed I didn't tell anyone until I was in my early twenties."
A former councillor for the city of Adelaide and Greens political staffer, Simms replaced South Australian Greens senator Penny Wright. He holds the portfolios for higher education, LGBTI issues and water.
Simms joins three other openly LGB members of the Australian parliament, including Labor senator Penny Wong, Liberal senator Dean Smith and Greens senator Janet Rice.
Speaking to BuzzFeed News, Simms said it was important to him as a public figure to be open about his sexuality.
Robert Simms makes his first speech in the senate on Tuesday, October 13, 2015.
Mick Tsikas / AAPIMAGE
Simms said that for young people it's often "a case of you can't be what you can't see".
"As a young person growing up, [I found] it quite challenging to see what a gay future might hold for me," he said.
"And part of that was because I didn't have any gay role models, so I was basing my perception of the gay life on caricatures I see on television, and I didn't have any conception of what a gay life might look like."