LGBTI Health Update | Vol. 3, No.7 August 2013 1

LGBTI Health UpdateA monthly review of LGBTI Health in Australia

Inside this edition: If you are viewing this document electronically you can click the title of the article to jump ahead

Editorial: Practical health outcomes for LGBTI people in Australia Warren Talbot 2 Media Release: Family court improves health care for trans young people LGBTI Health Alliance 3

‘Standing Strong’ - workshops for LGBTI mental health Andrew Shaw 4

Submission on Revised Australian Curriculum Health and Physical Education to Year 10 LGBTI Health Alliance 5 LGBTI Health Alliance Membership Information 6

Qlife: Connecting with our partner organisations 7

Attorney-General’s Department’s NGO Forum on Human Rights in Canberra 9 Heidi Yates

Medicare Benefits Scheme amended to include intersex and trans people 10 LGBTI Health Alliance

Zoe Belle Gender Centre Projects Update 11 Zoe Birkinshaw

First National Trans Mental Health Study 12

Information for Members and Friends of the Alliance 14

Click here to subscribe to this newsletter

2 LGBTI Health Update | Vol. 3, No. 7 August 2013

Practical health outcomes for LGBTI people in Australia

Editorial

As you are reading this edition of LGBTI Health Update, Australia is now in the full swing of the Federal election campaign. For many Australians this will be of no great significance, at least until 7 September, when we all get to vote for our preferred candidates.

Many NGOs make use of an election campaign to engage with Members of Parliament and candidates. In 2010 the Alliance conducted a survey of election candidates, but we have decided to not do that in 2013. This reflects, in part, the changing context in which the Alliance is operating. With funding for various projects, there is a focus on practical health outcomes for LGBTI individuals and communities. Project funding has given us an opportunity to do this. It is pleasing to see that practical measures in LGBTI health and ageing continue to enjoy multi-partisan support.

In May 2012, the Alliance’s Board approved a three year Strategic Plan, following consultation with Members (both organisations and individuals). That Plan is guiding our work until June 2015. We have prepared a document, called LGBTI Health 2013, which details a number of the practical health issues referred to in the Strategic Plan. It is hoped that this document will be of value during the next two years. In some ways, it is a spelling out of the more general Strategic Plan. We are likely to produce a further document in June 2014, prior to evaluating the three year plan in mid 2015.

LGBTI Health 2013 includes proposals and recommendations, and some of these will be used in meetings and discussions during the election campaign. The document will be available on our website on Thursday 15 August 2013. We will also mail out some copies.

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There is no overall theme for this edition of LGBTI Health Update, but the contents do provide a reasonable perspective on recent Alliance activities and concerns. Some health issues we can plan for. With others we need to be prepared to respond to an emerging issue.

In addition to meeting with health officials and making submissions, the Alliance issues Media Releases from time to time, in order to communicate our views with a wider audience. This Update includes three Media Releases on current topics. They are also available on our Website.

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Family Court improves health care for trans young people

Australia’s LGBTI Health Alliance welcomes the recent Family Court decision to allow a 13 year old transgender boy to receive Lucrin, a medication that suppresses the hormones responsible for physical changes during puberty.

In the Re: Lucy (Gender Dysphoria) [2013] FamCA 518 decision, the Family Court ruled that Court authorisation will no longer be required when trans young people request hormone-blocking medication. These requests will continue to be evaluated through careful screening in collaboration with a young person’s medical professionals and their parent or guardian.

“Puberty is a stressful time for most young people, but can be a particularly traumatic experience for trans young people. Research shows that delaying puberty for these young people can enable them to thrive socially and academically, and can reduce their risk of self-harm and suicide, ” said Warren Talbot, Alliance Executive Director.

The hormone-blocking effects of Lucrin are fully reversible. In contrast, pubertal changes such as breast development, vocal masculinisation and facial hair growth are difficult for trans adults to reverse later in life without costly and invasive medical procedures.

Studies show that Lucrin can be safely administered to young people for several years prior to full pubertal onset. Lucrin is routinely used to treat people with various medical conditions, including children with central precocious puberty (CPP)—themedical term for very early puberty.

Mr Talbot added, “The Family Court decision will help trans young people to access necessary medical care at a crucial time in their development. Thanks to the Family Court, more trans young people will be able to survive adolescence and grow up to be healthy and productive members of Australian society.”

Click here for full details of the case available from the Family Court of Australia

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Finally, a couple of reminders for Members.

First, you should have received your membership renewals in June. Please respond as soon as you can. If you have not heard from us then feel free to contact our Membership and Information Services Officer, Warren Summers, at members@lgbtihealth.org.au.

Secondly, Members are formally advised that our Annual General Meeting will be held by teleconference on Tuesday 29 October at 5.30 pm (Australian Eastern Daylight Time).

Warren TalbotExecutive Director

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‘STANDING STRONG’ Workshops for LGBTI Mental Health

by Andrew Shaw (originally published in SX)

Federally funded LGBTI mental health workshops will be introduced in Brisbane this month before being rolled out across the state.

Sally Morris from Healthy Communities is Queensland coordinator of MindOUT’s ‘Standing Strong’ workshops, which, she told Queensland Pride, seek to increase understanding of mental health issues and implement for suicide prevention.

“I’m expecting a whole range of people to be interested in the workshops,” Morris said. “People experiencing depression, people whose friends are, or people who volunteer or are quite active in the community.”

“People who are quite active in the community, who maybe take on different volunteer roles and become pseudo role models in the community, often what can happen is that they become the people that people go to looking for advice and support. This workshop can be a space for those people to feel a little bit more confident in what advice and support they’re giving.”

There are two MindOUT! workshops: ‘Rainbow Blues’, a two-hour workshop identifying depression, why LGBTI people are at high risk and what are some treatment options.

“The second, ‘From Dying to Thriving’, is the six-hour suicide prevention workshop,” Morris said. “This is more practical, in that if you come across someone who you believe is at risk of suicide, how do you know they are at risk? And what are some practical implementations strategies – what do you say, who should you tell? All the practical stuff. To know what to say, what to do can be really helpful.”

Barry Taylor, a mental health professional for 25 years, will present the Brisbane workshops, after which Morris will take them into regional Queensland from September.

“I’m curious to see how that goes,” Morris said. “I’m going to places like Longreach and Mt Isa where there’s not such a visible community, so people might not feel as confident turning up to a workshop.”

Morris stressed there is nothing intrinsic about LGBTI people that causes increased rates of depression and anxiety, but rather the experiences they have place them at higher risk. “I think that’s important to say at any of these workshops – there’s nothing wrong with you as an individual,” she said.

“It’s important for us all to be aware that sometimes our mental health might be more vulnerable and therefore we might need to be a bit more aware of it, look after ourselves a bit more than we might need to ordinarily do.”

The workshops are one key element of the broader MindOUT! project and Morris said she will be working with organisations to make them more accessible.

“Certainly there’ll be some mental health service providers in Brisbane, but also who have a presence in regional areas I’ll be working with to make them more accessible, which I think is a great step towards LGBTI people getting quality services for their mental health.”

MindOUT! is a National LGBTI Health Alliance project funded by the federal Department of Health and Ageing.

To register for the workshops go to: lgbtihealth.org.au/mindouttraining

‘From Dying to Thriving’ ($15) 10am-3.30pm, Sat, August 17; ‘Rainbow Blues’ (free) 6-9pm, Mon, August 19, 2013. Both workshops at Riverside Receptions, 50 Oxlade Dve, New Farm.

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Submission on Revised Australian Curriculum Health and Physical Education to Year 10

National LGBTI Health Alliance

This is the follow-up Submission to the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) on the Revised Australian Curriculum Health and Physical Education to Year 10.

“We are concerned that our previous suggestions to ensure an LGBTI-inclusive curriculum have not been sufficiently addressed in this revision. In addition to our previous concerns, we note:

• The absence of the terms lesbian, gay and bisexual. The paragraph on p. 18 that discusses ‘same sex attracted and gender diverse students’ is phrased in a way that could be interpreted as only applying to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and gender diverse students who have openly identified as LGBTI. Few LGBTI young people can safely disclose their sexual orientation, gender identity/history/expression or intersex status in school environments (see references). Intersex status is distinct from gender, so we advise changing the wording to include intersex people.

• The single reference to intersex and transgender people on p. 45 incorrectly defines intersex people as being ‘gender-diverse’. Intersex is a description of physical characteristics, not a form of gender diversity. The definition in the current draft could be made more inclusive by using the definition of intersex status in the Commonwealth Sex Discrimination Act (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Intersex Status) 2013.

• The definition of gender on p. 45 recognises only ‘male or female’. We recommend using definitions that are consistent with the legislation referenced above and distinguishing between sex (i.e., female, male, intersex) and gender (i.e., woman, man, another gender).

• The definition of gender identity as ‘the psychological sense of being male or female’ on p. 45 could include people beyond women or men. Our suggested definition would also be inclusive of cultural and ethnic diversity (e.g., the five recognised genders among the Bugis people of Indonesia and sistergirls in Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander communities).

• The reference to homophobia in the original draft has been removed.

• The lack of reference to HIV, STIs or blood-borne viruses such as viral hepatitis.

In its current form, the revised Curriculum is likely to lead to negative health outcomes for LGBTI young people. We recommend that ACARA reconsider our original suggestions to ensure consistency with the intent of the Sex Discrimination Act (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Intersex Status) 2013.”

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• The National LGBTI Health Alliance accepts both individuals and organisations into its membership body.

• Members have the opportunity to contribute their voices to a national conversation about LGBTI Health and Wellbeing.

• Organisations benefit from receiving the latest information about developments in LGBTI Health.

You can now apply for membership online.

Individuals click here to apply for membership now

Organisations click here to apply for membership now

If you are already a member:

Individuals click here to renew your membership

Organisations click here to renew your membership

Alliance Membership

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“QLife: Keeping our LGBTI Communities Connected”QLife is a national project lead by the National LGBTI Health Alliance, in partnership with Australia’s five LGBTI counselling services. It was launched by Minister Jacinta Collins and MP Louise Pratt in Perth during July. Since then the national office has been established and have been working hard to get the project rolled out. We are pleased to introduce you to the QLife partners.

QLife Australia could not go ahead without the support and hard work of our five partner sites and their volunteers. Each of our partner sites has a long history of providing support for LGBTI communities.

Twenty10 incorporating GLCS NSW – a QLife partner

Based in Sydney GLCS is the longest running LGBTI support service in NSW. This service was born out of CAMP’s ‘Phone a Friend’ service which took its first phone call in 1973. Although there have been name changes over the years, providing phone support for GLBTI communities has remained a constant. In 2012 the volunteer run phone support service merged with Twenty10. This merge has resulted in a robust all ages support service incorporating both paid staff and volunteers. Twenty10 incorporating GLCS NSW has 40 active phone volunteers who continue to make this service a key point of contact and support around sex, sexuality and gender.

GLCS SA/NT– a QLife partner

Based in Adelaide the Gay and Lesbian Community Services of SA (GLCSSA) has been providing a continuous and free service to the

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South Australian Community for over 36 years in its various guises. As well as a long history of providing telephone support for LGBTI communities GLCS SA also owns and runs the largest LGBTI library in the southern hemisphere.

Currently GLCS SA has eight committed phone volunteers and a number of trainees providing phone coverage to South Australia and the Northern Territory.

The Gay and Lesbian Switchboard Victoria– a QLife partner

Based in Melbourne, Switchboard was established in 1991. At Switchboard the telephones are answered by trained volunteers who themselves identify as GLBTI. Switchboard has a history of receiving calls from a wide range of people; some who may be experiencing problems at work, in their relationships, with family or who are coming out, not to mention callers who simply want a referral to other community organisations and groups. Switchboard has 50 active phone volunteers who will be involved in the QLife project.

GLCS Western Australia – a QLife partner

Based in Perth Gay and Lesbian Community Services of WA (Inc.) is a non-profit organisation which aims to promote the wellbeing of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, queer and other sexuality, sex and gender diverse people in Western Australia. GLCS has been providing a large range of services to Western Australian communities for 35 years including their peer run counseling line. Currently GLCS have 12 active phone volunteers.

GLWA Queensland – a QLife partner

The Gay and Lesbian Welfare Association or GLWA began in 1984 as the Homosexual Community Welfare Service (HCWS) providing telephone counseling and information. Whilst GLWA provides a range of health initiatives the peer telephone counseling services has always remained the core focus of GLWA activities. GLWA currently run a highly sort after telephone counselor training course; there are 29 active phone volunteers based at GLWA.

The important work of our partner organisations has not ceased as our national infrastructure draws ever closer to completion. Very soon, and for the first time ever, people wanting to access LGBTI specific support will be able to call a single number no matter where in Australia they are located, as well as use web chat to access this support. Stay tuned for the QLife local launches happening in September.

QLife national telephone support 1800 184 527 or email support at ask@qlife.org.au

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Attorney-General’s Department’s NGO Forum on Human Rights in Canberra

by Heidi Yates, Board Director of the National LGBTI Health Alliance

On 19 June Heidi Yates represented the Alliance at the Attorney-General’s Department’s NGO Forum on Human Rights in Canberra.

The forum was opened by the Attorney-General, the Hon Mark Dreyfus QC MP, who summarised some of the current Government’s key human rights initiatives. Amongst these was the launch of the Australian Government Guidelines on the Recognition of Sex and Gender. The Guidelines introduce a consistent sex and gender classification system for Australian Government records. In particular, a system that allows individuals to identify outside the binary of ‘male/female’ and provides a consistent standard of evidence for people who are changing their sex or gender on records across Australian Government departments and agencies. In response to a follow-up question from Heidi, the Attorney-General confirmed that he intends to write to his State and Territory Counterparts to recommend that each jurisdiction consider

implementing the guidelines at a local level.

The day involved a number of presentations regarding domestic implementation of human rights, a human rights treaty reporting update and speeches by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Mr Mick Gooda, and the new National Children’s Commissioner, Ms Megan Mitchell. The Forum also heard from the President of the Australian Law Reform Commission, Professor Rosalind Croucher, regarding the Commission’s upcoming inquiry into Reducing Legal Barriers for People with Disabilities. The Forum was a great networking opportunity and a rare chance to hear directly from the Attorney-General regarding Human Rights initiatives. Alliance members may also be interested in the the Attorney-General’s Department’’s human rights e-Learning package. The e-Learning package is entitled Human rights are in our hands provides information about what rights are, why they matter and how they are protected. The package was developed primarily for public sector officials and it guides them through the international human rights system. It also provides an overview of the Human Rights Framework and the obligations and responsibilities that arise from it. It demonstrates how human rights can be taken into account in day-to-day work and contains a detailed case study to strengthen the capacity of policy and legal officers to prepare a Statement of Compatibility. The module can be accessed here: http://humanrightstraining.skillsoptimiser.com/.

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Medicare Benefits Scheme amended to include intersex and trans people

Australia’s LGBTI Health Alliance welcomes changes to the Medicare Benefits Scheme (MBS) that provide more inclusive health care for intersex, trans and gender diverse people as of July 1.

The Department of Health and Ageing consulted with the Alliance and several other community organisations prior to the removal of gender-specific language from 15 Medicare item billing codes. The 15 amended item codes cover several key areas of health care, including cervical smears.

“Research shows that trans and gender diverse people often avoid seeking necessary health care due to fears of being misgendered, and intersex people report having similar concerns about having their bodies misclassified in medical records. The recent changes will increase the number of intersex, trans and gender diverse people who feel comfortable seeking necessary medical care”, said Warren Talbot, Alliance Executive Director.

“The Alliance welcomes the removal of gender-specific language in these MBS item codes. These changes will lead to more respectful and inclusive health care for intersex, trans and gender diverse Australians.” Mr Talbot said that the ability for people listed as ‘male’ to receive cervical smears was particularly important.

“An intersex or trans man who needs a cervical smear can now receive this care without being misgendered as ‘female’ in his medical records. Some men have died from cervical cancers. The removal of gender-specific language for cervical smears encourages health professionals to provide necessary care in a way that respects how people define their bodies and genders. We hope the MBS will consider changing the remaining gender-specific item codes in the future”, Mr Talbot said.

Health care professionals and community members who wish to find out more about the amended MBS item codes can visit the MBS website:

http://www.mbsonline.gov.au/internet/mbsonline/publishing.nsf/Content/News-201307-July-MBS

ONLINE LEARNING MODULE: Rainbow Blues

This online tool has been developed to offer you, your friends and family information and support to help you better understand the experience of mental distress, either to aid your own recovery or support someone else’s.

Based on feedback from participants of the workshops, it has been designed to provide space to reflect on some issues that are specific to our community’s emotional health and wellbeing, as well as providing some practical tips on different types of support and self-care.

Click here to check out this resource now...

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The Zoe Belle Gender Centre Youth Project recently celebrated its first birthday as the first Victorian government funded position for a transgender and gender diverse agency! It has been an amazing and inspiring year of meeting and working with phenomenal activists, service providers and community members.

The Zoe Belle Gender Centre is currently an online centre to support the trans* and gender diverse communities of Victoria, and is working towards establishing a physical location. The youth project has been funded to work towards reducing the suicide rates among this community through working with policy and direct service agencies to improve their cultural competency. The project is funded until mid- 2015.

The project has worked with Victoria agencies such as the VEOHRC Transgender at work policy, the Victorian Sexual and Gender Diverse schools policy, and has run trainings with agencies such as Rainbow Network members, Wombat Housing services, and Leisure Networks. Trainings have provided the space for individual workers and agencies to extend their knowledge when working with these communities, and to practically explore inclusive practice.

The project works closely with Ygender, the Melbourne- based trans* and gender diverse peer youth group and other gender diverse and transgender groups based in Victoria to support and collaborate on community- driven projects.

The project was funded as part of the Department of Health’s HEY Project, which is a series of four year and one years grants to reduce youth suicide in the LGBTI populations, through improving LGBTI specific and mainstream health services. This is done through a collaborative work approach from long term funded agencies.

Thanks to everyone who has supported the work of the project, and provided endless inspiration, both in Victoria and nationally. The generosity of other agencies in developing partnerships and offering support has made the project much stronger than it would otherwise be.

This upcoming year will include more secondary consultation work, and more training, so get in touch!

Training can be provided for free to youth agencies. I would love to hear from anyone interested in exploring joint work opportunities (or for any other reason!).

Please see the website www.gendercentre.com for more information.

Zoe Birkinshaw,Youth Project Officerzoebirkinshaw@gendercentre.com(03) 8398 4131 (Tues-Wed)

Zoe Belle Gender Centre Projects Updateby Zoe Birkenshaw, Youth Project Officer ZBGC

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First National Trans Mental Health Study

We are looking for people to take part in an anonymous Internet study of mental health and well-being

WHO:

WHAT:

All trans people, however they live or describe them-selves, aged 18 years or older. We use the term trans in an inclusive way, and would like to hear from people who use (or used) words like transsexual, transgender, sistergirl, androgynous, or genderqueer to describe themselves.

The purpose of this research is to obtain a snapshot of the mental health of trans people living in Australia. The study is completely anonymous, and involves taking a question-naire online.

WHERE:

BENEFITS & RISKS:

CONTACT:

You can take the questionnaire, or find out more about the project, at the study website: www.transoz.org

There are no direct medical benefits or significant risks for participating in this study. However, your participation is likely to help us find out more about how to improve health services for trans people.

WHEN: You can take part in the study from 1 August until 31 December 2013.

If you have any questions about the study, you can contact the principal investigator: Dr Zoë Hyde zoe.hyde@curtin.edu.au

FUNDING: This research is being funded by a grant from beyondblue. A team of researchers from Curtin University are conducting the study.

www.transoz.org

This study has been approved by the Curtin University Human Research Ethics Committee (Approval Number: HR 63/2013)

To take part in the study, or for more information, go to:

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Research Paper: Suicide protective factors among Trans adultsMoody C, Smith NG (Canada)Archives of Sexual Behavior 42, 739-752, 2013

A recent study indicated a suicide attempt rate of 41 % among trans (e.g., trans, transgender, transexual/transsexual, genderqueer, two-spirit) individuals. Although this rate is alarming, there is a dearth of literature regarding suicide prevention for trans individuals. A vital step in developing suicide prevention models is the identification of protective factors. It was hypothesized that social support from friends, social support from family, optimism, reasons for living, and suicide resilience, which are known to protect cis (non-trans) individuals, also protect trans individuals. A sample of self-identified trans Canadian adults (N=133) was recruited from LGBT and trans LISTSERVs. Data were collected online using a secure survey platform. A three block hierarchical multiple regression model was used to predict suicidal behavior from protective factors. Social support from friends, social support from family, and optimism significantly and negatively predicted 33 % of variance in participants’ suicidal behavior after controlling for age. Reasons for living and suicide resilience accounted for an additional 19 % of the variance in participants’ suicidal behavior after controlling for age, social support from friends, social support from family, and optimism. Of the factors mentioned above, perceived social support from family, one of three suicide resilience factors (emotional stability), and one of six reasons for living (child-related concerns) significantly and negatively predicted participants’ suicidal behavior. Overall, these findings can be used to inform the practices of mental health workers, medical doctors, and suicide prevention workers working with trans clients.

DocLIST is an online list of doctors and mental health professionals recommended by lesbian and bisexual women. It has been set up as a resource created by the community, for the community. DocLIST needs your recommendations of more doctors and mental health professionals from around Australia.

Visit the DocLIST website to find out more about the project and to make your recommendations...

www.doclist.com.au

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Call for contributions

National LGBTI Health Alliance Contact:Please send general enquiries or requests to info@lgbtihealth.org.au

Click here to subscribe to this newsletter

Information for Members and Friends of the Alliance

Members and friends are invited to share their expertise and experience by making contributions to the LGBTI Health Update in the form of news stories or articles.

All items should be semi-formal in style and concerned with LGBTI Health and Wellbeing and be broadly relevant to the Australian context.

If you would like to make a contribution to the LGBTI Health Update, please contact Warren Summers on info@lgbtihealth.org.au.

LGBTI Health UpdateVol 3, No 7, August 2013

Editor: Warren TalbotEditorial Assistant / Design: Warren Summers

The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the National LGBTI Health Alliance.

© National LGBTI Health Alliance

The Alliance gratefully acknowledges the assistance of the Australian Department of Health and Ageing,and the contributions of individual and organisational Members.

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