News
Federal commitment to 10-year LGBTIQ+ Health and Wellbeing Action Plan is life-saving
LGBTIQ+ Health Australia (LHA) today welcome Federal Government commitment to a 10-year national action plan for LGBTIQ+ health and wellbeing, alongside an LGBTIQ+ Health Advisory Group and $26 million for health research.
National Stigma and Discrimination Reduction Strategy
The National Mental Health Commission is developing a National Stigma and Discrimination Reduction Strategy on behalf of the Australian Government. It aims to ensure stigma and discrimination on the basis of mental ill-health are not barriers to people living long and contributing lives.
Submission on National Dementia Action Plan
The Department of Health Ageing consulted on the 10-year draft National Dementia Action Plan. LHA supports the Plan’s aim of putting people living with dementia, their families, and carers at the centre of all action on dementia.
Submission on an Australian Centre for Disease Control
Over recent years, Australia has responded to significant public health emergencies, particularly the COVID-19 pandemic. The federal government is establishing an Australian Centre for Disease Control (CDC) to improve ongoing response to these emergencies.
LGBTIQ+ Health Australia Budget Submission 2023-2024
The Australian Federal Budget for 2023-24 will be put to Parliament in May.
LHA letter on the draft Inspector-General of Aged Care Bill
The Australian Government consulted on a draft Inspector-General of Aged Care Bill to establish a new independent statutory office–the Inspector-General of Aged Care–to provide oversight and drive improvements in the aged care system.
LHA submission to the Australian Cancer Plan
Cancer Australia, on behalf of the Australian Government, is developing the ten-year Australian Cancer Plan.
November 2022 Policy and Research Webinar: LGBT Older People and Homelessness
The webinar focuses on the report Out of the Closet, Out of Options: Older LGBT people at risk of homelessness.
Trans Awareness Week and Trans Day of Remembrance 2022
Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) is an annual observance on 20 November that honors the memory of the transgender people whose lives were lost in acts of anti-transgender violence. The week before TDOR, people and organizations around the country participate in Transgender Awareness Week to help raise the visibility of transgender people and address issues members of the community face.
LHA welcomes the Government’s Budget, October 2022-23 investment and calls for new vision for LGBTIQ+ health
LGBTIQ+ Health Australia (LHA) welcomes the Budget investment in Australia’s health and wellbeing, and has called on the Government to show a clear vision to address the significant disparities in health outcomes in LGBTIQ+ health.
2022 Palliative Care Scoping Review
LGBTIQ+ Health Australia recently conducted a Scoping Review that looked at the existing literature on palliative and end-of-life care for LGBTIQ+ communities from 2016-2020.
Pride & Pandemic: Health experience and coping strategies among LGBTQ+ people during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
Pride and Pandemic is a joint study between La Trobe University's Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society and LGBTIQ+ Health Australia.
New study examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on LGBTQ+ people
A new joint study has revealed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on LGBTQ+ people in Australia and their mental health, as well as rates of family and domestic violence and economic situations.
LGBTIQ+ health and wellbeing peak welcomes National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children and calls for resources for sector
LGBTIQ+ Health Australia welcomes the release of the Federal Government’s National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children 2022-2032 and has called on governments across Australia to fund LGBTIQ+ community-controlled services to implement its recommendations.
Submission to the Select Committee on Work and Care
LGBTIQ+ Health Australia lodged a submission in response to the Select Committee on Work and Care’s inquiry on how combining work and care responsibilities will impact the wellbeing of workers, carers, and those they care for.
Factsheet: LGBTI People and Dementia
This factsheet is specifically for aged care workers to provide guidance on how to support LGBTI people living with dementia in aged care.
Submission to the Productivity Commission Inquiry into Carers Leave
The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety identified a lack of support for informal (unpaid) carers, including challenges balancing their caring role with work and other commitments.
AIHW report shows we're still in the dark on LGBTIQ+ people and family, domestic and sexual violence
Rates of family, domestic and sexual violence in LGBTIQ+ relationships are as high or higher than for the broader Australian population, but the lack of hard data means LGBTIQ+ people risk being forgotten in policy, planning, funding and new projects.
Ageing Fabulously: A podcast for the aged care sector
A podcast from LGBTIQ+ Health Australia giving aged care workers insight into issues important to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) older people.
LGBTIQ+ health peak body welcomes paid domestic and family violence leave, calls for LGBTIQ+ inclusion in implementation
LGBTIQ+ Health Australia (LHA) welcomes the introduction of legislation making 10 days of paid domestic and family violence leave available to all employees and calls for further action to ensure lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans/transgender, intersex, queer and other sexuality and gender, and bodily diverse people (LGBTIQ+) people are included.
NAIDOC Week Events
National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia in the first week of July each year (Sunday to Sunday), to celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC Week is an opportunity for all Australians to learn about First Nations cultures and histories and participate in celebrations of the oldest, continuous living cultures on earth.
Building a national Cervical Cancer Elimination Strategy
LGBTIQ+ Health Australia (LHA) and the Australian Centre for the Prevention of Cervical Cancer (ACPCC) are working together to help the Australian Government build a strategy to eliminate cervical cancer in Australia by 2035.
Older LGBTI people and the digital divide
Teresa Savage, a consultant in LGBTIQ+ ageing and health and our Project Manager Roundtable and Digital Health, looks at how the digital divide is affecting older LGBTI people's access to healthcare
Earlier this year LHA held the 4th National Roundtable on LGBTI Ageing and Aged Care 2022. The event was attended by 34 participants from all Australian states and territories, including older LGBTI community representatives, Silver Rainbow partners (who deliver the Silver Rainbow program on behalf of LHA), key ageing and aged care organisations and observers from relevant government departments.
2021 Census Data shows nothing for LGBTIQ+ Australians
As the first round of data from the 2021 Census is analysed for essential insight into the Australian population, we remain in the dark about lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender diverse, intersex, queer and other sexuality and bodily diverse (LGBTIQ+) Australians.
Media oulets must prioritise trans and gender diverse voices in FINA decision coverage
LGBTIQ+ Health Australia (LHA) is calling on news media to prioritise the voices of trans and gender diverse people and experts in the coverage of the International Swimming Federation’s (FINA) disappointing decision to exclude trans women from elite women’s competitions.
Silver Rainbow Webinar: Older LGBTI people and accurate data collection
Why does accurate data collection for LGBTI older people matter and how can we take steps to create more inclusive data collection?
Report of the 4th National Roundtable on LGBTI Ageing and Aged Care 2022
This report focuses on the recommendations that emerged from the 4th National Roundtable on LGBTI Ageing and Aged Care in February 2022 and includes initiatives carried over from the previous Roundtable.
Your data, your privacy: Using My Health Record securely
Teresa Savage, a consultant in LGBTIQ+ ageing and health and our Project Manager Roundtable and Digital Health, looks at how everyone, especially older LGBTI people, can keep their My Health Record data safe and secure
Do you use My Health Record? Are you worried about your privacy?
A recap of the Leadership In Action: LGBTIQ+ Suicide Prevention Forum
MindOut Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Officer Yesim Karasu recaps the MindOut Leadership In Action forum on 12 & 13 May
Webinar: LGBTIQ+ Palliative Care
Join Hannah Morgan, LGBTIQ+ Health Australia's National Palliative Care Project Coordinator, to learn more about the barriers LGBTIQ+ people experience when they access palliative care services, and what skills and knowledge are required to create safe, respectful and inclusive practices for our communities.