LGBTIQ+ Health Australia welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Issues Paper addressing barriers to inclusion of LGBTIQ+ people with disability.
LGBTIQ+ Health Australia (LHA) is the largest national peak organisation working to promote the health and wellbeing of LGBTIQ+ people and communities. LHA is uniquely placed with a diverse membership that spans across states and territories, and includes LGBTIQ+ self-determined community health organisations, LGBTIQ+ community groups and state and territory peak bodies, service providers, researchers, and individuals. LHA is strategically positioned to provide a national focus to improving the health and wellbeing of LGBTIQ+ people through policy, advocacy, representation, research evidence, and capacity building across all health portfolios that are of significance to our communities. We recognise that people’s genders, bodies, relationships, and sexualities affect their health and wellbeing in every domain of their life.
LHA has a history of working with disability organisations and individual LGBTIQ+ people living with disability. This has included the NDIA, National Ethnic Disability Alliance (NEDA), People with Disability Australia and Disability Employment Australia. LHA in partnership with Disability Employment Australia, is engaged in an NDIS funded project called Employable Q. The aim of this project is to produce resources for employers within the LGBTI sector to promote the employment of LGBTIQ+ people with disability. Employable Q provides LGBTIQ+ organisations with a range of resources and tools to assist them in becoming more inclusive workplaces for people with disability. This information was delivered via a toolkit targeted towards LGBTIQ+ employers. LHA has also provided a submission to the Royal Commission in August 2020, with a specific focus on employment issues faced by LGBTIQ+ people with disability and presented recommendations. LHA provided an oral presentation to the Royal Commission in the December 2020. We raised issues relating to employment and addressed the experiences of LGBTIQ+ people with disability accessing employment and the EmployableQ toolkit which helps organisations become more inclusive and accessible.