Creating Positive

Government policy and legislation

Sex Discrimination Amendment Act (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Intersex Status) 2013 (Cth)

Discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people is illegal.

Adoption Amendment (Same-Sex Couples) Bill 2010 (NSW)

Singles and couples of any sexuality or gender are permitted to adopt in NSW. GLBTI people are assessed under the same terms as other singles and couples. Where an adoption order is made under the Adoption Act in favour of a same sex couple, the child will have two mothers or two fathers.

Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Bill 2017

The Bill sought to amend the Marriage Act 1961 (Cth) to redefine marriage as ‘a union of two people’; introduce non-gendered language so that the requirements of the Act apply equally to all marriages; enable same-sex marriages that have been, or will be, solemnised under the law of a foreign country to be recognised in Australia.

Organisations within the community that support the group

Acon is an organisation which is present in the GLBTI community. They cater for GLBTI people with community health, inclusion and HIV response. Acon gives GLBTI people the opportunity to get HIV tested and if diagnosed, offer additional support with a peer-based workshop for gay men as well as counselling and one-on-one peer support. This helps their safety and security and health the most. The peer-based workshops will make them feel safe to talk about what they need help with the most with other men in a similar situation. This also includes health as HIV is a serious health issue which with the support provided can extend to help those in need who didn't have access to it before. They also offer a free meal every day to people living with HIV to help them out. They also help with general counselling surrounding the GLBTI community and support in various ways. Acon organizations 'Diversity Days' and other programs such as 'diversity in sport.' These events further help the sense of identity of GLBTI people by raising awareness as well as making them feel included and accepted in the group. They can also meet new people there which will help them get to know more about their identity along with others who are going through the same thing which brings unity to the group. The workshop for people with HIV only caters towards gay men thus not catering towards everyone in the GLBTI community especially women and nonbinary/other people. To affirm this, the study by Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2016 said that 23% of people living with HIV in the United States were women. They also offer a lot more identity workshops and resources for gay men movement and should, therefore, attest to the need of not only HIV classes but all classes should be available not only with gay men but with all people of the GLBTI. Geographically, Acon is only available in NSW and ACT more locations are closer to the cities and become more spaces further away from the cities this leads to the fact that not everyone can have access to the resources which Acon provides especially those who live in rural towns. Having inclusion to help ones understand their sense of identity and access to the resources they need especially if they find themselves in a tough living situation. Although where Aboriginal communities lie there are a few sparse resources in the rural areas although they are limited. They cover the needs for health quite well but they do not cover sense of identity very well as they do not have many resources for transgender and intersex people which is damaging especially for people who are just figuring out their identity which is the most important need for a GLBTI person.

Twenty 10 is another organisation which offers services and resources to GLBTI youth aged from 16 to 25. They provide GLBTI youth with resources such as housing, social support and help to get family and friends of the GLBTI person's life to become more involved as well as counselling and online talk rooms. Twenty 10 offers housing to youths which will help to increase their safety and security needs as it is their second most desired need as according to the study done by CHP (2018) says that GLBTI people are twice more likely to experience homelessness due to family rejection. Therefore, compared to Acon, Twenty 10 caters towards safety and security which Acon doesn't as much leading to better safety for GLBTI people. Twenty 10 only caters for people aged between the ages of 16 to 25 which is not all of GLBTI people in need of resources. If a person is aged under 16 or over 25, they cannot receive the needs which are essential to them. Widening the age to all people would give everyone an equal opportunity to have the resources they need no matter what age they are and when they are figuring out their identity. Twenty 10 is involved in Mardi Gras and includes prop and costume making workshops. This inclusion of this festival also will help the individual's sense of identity feel celebrated and help them understand it with others. Twenty 10 also offers a monthly dinner for those who may be in need for people aged 20-27 age inclusivity is not apparent here and with only one location this support may be hard for some people to get too as well as only being once a month meaning some people may need additional support with food which is more than once a month.

The National LGBTI Health Alliance is another organisation in the community which helps satisfy the needs of LGBTIQ+ individuals. The National LGBTI Health Alliance is an NGO and membership directed organisation who provide health-based programs and services and research based solely on the LGBTIQ+ community and other bodily diverse people. Their goal is to free individuals who are part of the LGBTIQ+ community from discrimination based on sexuality and to improve health standards of individuals in the LGBTIQ+ community. They aim to do this through developing public policy to promote equity, advocate for individuals and sub-communities within the LGBTIQ+ community and research. Many reputable organisations are members of The National LGBTI Health Alliance such as BeyondBlue and Twenty10, with the intention to collaborate together to make sure that LGBTIQ+ individuals meet their health needs. The National LGBTI Health Alliance have many projects in place to ensure that they help as many LGBTIQ+ identifying individuals as possible. For example, they implemented the Silver Rainbow project to specialise in care of elderly LGBTIQ+ individuals, the Mindout project to specialise in mental health and create suicide prevention strategies for LBGTIQ+ populations and the QLife project to serve as an anonymous support service in the form of a webchat or over the phone conversations for not only individuals in the LGBTIQ+ community, but also their family and friends. These projects are extremely effective as they target various demographics who wants to reach out and find help. The Alliance is an excellent example of a community-based organisation which aims to satisfy the needs of individuals in the LGBTIQ+ community.

Contributions the group makes within the community

Acon advocates the GLBTI group by collecting donations which are used to a fund volunteer packing team which makes 20,000 "sex packs" for a donation of $25 a month which can further prevent sexually transmitted infections. It also raises funds so people seriously affected by HIV can live independently and receive home-based care and transport services which can help GLBTI homeless and individuals in unsafe living environments. Also, donations help financially disadvantaged GLBTI people with a counsellor so they can receive the emotional support they need. They also get funding to keep their violence report line operational to keep people safe and have a place to call when they need it to help them feel safe and secure. Acon has set up multiple campaigns including their newest one the "ending HIV thank you" campaign. This was set up to raise awareness and to advocate for GLBTI people who are struggling with HIV. They promote healthy living for GLBTI people by making sure that all GLBTI people in NSW have access to help if needed especially for medical reasons.

The positives which Acon does towards the GLBTI community and their attitudes is that they start to make a change of people inside and outside of the GLBTI community. They help with the health and safety of GLBTI people with "sex packs" to prevent HIV and other STI's. This will make the community feel safer and raise awareness of HIV when involved in sexual activities. This also will help them feel safer overall when it comes to their health. This positive influence affects other GLBTI people who then will also feel that they also need to get testing and take precautions around HIV and by doing that affects the attitudes when it comes to HIV in the community.

Twenty Ten advocates in hopes to make a world where all GLBTI people are treated with equality are affirmed, secure, connected, experience positive health outcomes and live in a society without oppression form others, discrimination or violence and hate crimes. They want to create safety for those experiencing adversity for being GLBTI which they do through housing, they want to work in collaboration with their different clients and communities and work for human rights and social justice towards GLBTI people. They achieve this through their practices of counselling and housing.

Twenty 10 looks out for the safety of homeless GLBTI youths or GLBTI youths in unsafe living situations. They try to make the people feel "real" and accepted into their new community of housing. This would contrast what the individual would experience at their old home or the streets and make them feel loved and connected. This love and connection between GLBTI people is what Twenty 10 is doing to change the attitudes in the community. Twenty 10 is also being involved in Mardi Gras this festival promotes and changes how the community and the world views GLBTI people and gives them acceptance and lets other relate with them who may be thinking about their identity. Twenty 10 calls people to this festival to experience the attitudes of negativity they are trying to change in the GLBTI community.

The National LGBTI Health Alliance advocates for the LGBTIQ+ community is through their ambition to have sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex status (The National LGBTI Health Alliance, 2019) formally recognised in the Census of Population and Housing which is to be conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2021. The potential inclusion of individuals in the LGBTIQ+ community is important because there are no other means of gathering widescale data for this specific group and therefore, means that we cannot as a society, fix problems that this community faces. Another example of advocacy within the Alliance is their submissions to the Federal Government regarding their Religious Discrimination Bill (2019). These submissions state that while the Alliance supports the idea of giving protection against discrimination for people who have faith, they urge the Government to remove certain sections of the Bill which do not consider the discrimination that LGBTIQ+ individuals may face.

An example of how the Alliance can positively influence community attitudes is through them educating the public about gaps in the new Bill, the Religious Discrimination Bill (2019), which allow for the potential for discrimination against LGBTIQ+ identifying individuals. Advocacy on this issue can then raise support from not only LGBTIQ+ identifying individuals and their loved ones, but also the average citizen, who regardless of their sexual and gender identity, would not other people to face the consequences of targeted discrimination such as depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation.

Therefore, organisations who continue to fight for and advocate on behalf of the LGBTIQ+ community can positively influence the way the average person views people in the LGBTIQ+ community and can lead to them treating people in the community better, which in turn, can lead to a higher sense of belonging for LGBTIQ+ identifying individuals.