LGBTIQ mental health and the promise of reform

On 8 June 2021 Mental Health Victoria, Rainbow Health Victoria and Thorne Harbour Health held a free webinar exploring mental health in the LGBTIQ community.

Summary

The webinar was held following the release of the Royal Commission into Victoria's Mental Health System and in the early stages of the reform rollout.

It explored a common vision of what a well-resourced and integrated LGBTIQ+-inclusive mental health system would look like. It also identified the elements necessary to the next phase of the reform process.

Download the outcomes paper for a full summary of the event and the recommendations to arise from it.

Key themes

The following four themes were identified as key pillars for a safe and inclusive mental health sector for LGBTIQ+ people:

1. An adequately resourced LGBTIQ+ community sector that provides choice, including investment in LGBTIQ+ community-controlled organisations and inclusive
   mainstream service pathways.
   
   
2. Expanded upskilling, support models and employment opportunities for LGBTIQ+ peer workers, vested across the mental health sector, to provide support and understanding for LGBTIQ+ people experiencing mental health issues.
   
   
3. Ongoing consultation with priority communities, such as LGBTIQ+ communities, to be designed with cultural safety principles in mind, to appropriately capture the specific expertise of lived experience representatives as well as LGBTIQ+ mental health experts and researchers.
   
   
4. Mental health prevention strategies to meaningfully address the drivers of poor mental health and suicide outcomes for LGBTIQ+ communities such as stigma, discrimination and violence.

Speakers

• Larissa Taylor – Mental Health Victoria
• Marina Carman – Rainbow Health Victoria
• Jackson Fairchild – Rainbow Health Victoria
• Carolyn Gillespie – Thorne Harbour Health
• Joe Ball – Rainbow Door and Switchboard
• Kent Burgess – Your Community Health
• Sara Strachan – Zoe Belle Gender Collective
• Isabelle McGovern – Mind Australia