Underscored by Recommendation 34 of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System, service responses for LGBTIQA+ individuals and communities, need to be safe, accessible and responsive to mental health and wellbeing needs with understanding of the interconnected ways these can present. Drawn from a desktop review, community survey, and client file analysis, the project produced two key findings and five core principles for effective service responses.
The project led to two key findings that demonstrated:
1. The prevalence and impact of discrimination on mental health and wellbeing among LGBTIQA+ communities.
2. The complexity and co-occurrence of needs and risk among LGBTIQA+ clients.
Principles for Effective Service Responses
The five core principles developed from the findings of this project are aligned, and extend upon, the recommendations of the Royal Commission, and include:
1. Establishing safety
2. Intersectional practice
3. Advocacy at all levels
4. Flexibility in responding to client need
5. Coordinated and integrated services
Sharing the Findings and Principles
The findings and principles of the LGBTIQA+ Mental Health and Wellbeing Project have recently been shared at the Health in Difference Conference 2024, and have been accepted for presentation at the AIFS Conference 2024, and the Better Together Conference 2024. We also plan to publish academic papers based on the key findings and principles.
We will continue to share the findings with a broad audience in order to inspire discussions about how we can all improve our response to, and support of, LGBTIQA+ mental health and wellbeing.
See below our interactive report presenting the key findings and principles. The full final report will be released in the coming month. Watch this space!