Project status: Closed

How you had YourSay:

The ACT Government wants Canberra to continue to be Australia’s most LGBTIQ+ welcoming and inclusive city. Over the past decade we have advanced the rights of LGBTIQ+ people through changes to our laws and practices, and by supporting community-based organisations. We’re committed to building on these advances and doing more to improve outcomes for LGBTIQ+ people.

To inform and support this continuing effort, we have been gathering more information about the experiences of LGBTIQ+ people in the ACT so we can focus on specific actions that will improve their lives.

All Canberrans were invited to have their say by:

  • completing the feedback form
  • making a written submission to the Office for LGBTIQ+ Affairs
  • attending a discussion group or interview, by arrangement with the Office for LGBTIQ+ Affairs.

We are looking at:

In partnership with the LGBTIQ Ministerial Advisory Council, we have been working across the community to develop a four-year LGBTIQ+ Strategy (2019 to 2023) to guide the government’s work for the rights of LGBTIQ+ Canberrans. To reinforce the Strategy, annual action plans will outline exactly how we will improve the lives of LGBTIQ+ Canberrans and their access to services.

Our goal

The ACT is the most LGBTIQ welcoming and inclusive jurisdiction in Australia.

Everyone in the ACT should feel safe and happy to be who they are and to love who they love without judgement or fear. This means LGBTIQ+ people are visible, valued and respected in our community with:

  1. Equal status under the law
  2. Equal access to services that they need, when they need them
  3. Equal participation in all areas of public life in our city
  4. Equal ability to celebrate their unique identities and be proud of who they are
  5. The backing of an ACT Government which delivers best practice LGBTIQ+ policy and services informed by evidence and data.

Priority Areas

Our engagement across the ACT and the community sector has identified the following priority areas for improving LGBTIQ+ equality and inclusion:

Equal access to services
  • Coordinating services to ‘wrap’ around their users so they don’t need to navigate the system
  • Making sure LGBTIQ+ people with disability or who are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander or from a culturally diverse background can access the services they need
  • Making sure services are taking the particular needs of LGBTIQ+ people into account
  • Looking at better ways for services to be able to show they give a good service to LGBTIQ+ people
  • Making sure mainstream services are inclusive
Understanding and awareness
  • Working together as a government and a community to break down social and cultural barriers to full inclusion for LGBTIQ+people
  • Making sure service providers get good guidance about supporting LGBTIQ+ people, including training and awareness
  • Letting more people know about LGBTIQ+ sector organisations
Equal rights reflected in law
  • Reviewing and reforming Territory laws to ensure LGBTIQ+ human rights are supported with particular focus on the rights of trans, gender diverse and intersex people
  • Ensuring LGBTIQ+ people are able to live their lives safely and feel safe inside and outside their homes
  • Making sure there is proper support for LGBTIQ+ victims of crime
  • Making sure LGBTIQ+ people can easily access the information they need about their rights
Open doors to participation
  • Looking at ways to stop LGBTIQ+ people being treated differently
  • Ensuring LGBTIQ+ Canberrans can participate fully and invest their talent, passion, knowledge and ability into our city’s economy and society
  • Supporting LGBTIQ+ people to be themselves at work
  • Making sure that schools, colleges and universities support every LGBTIQ+ child and young person
  • Supporting events across Canberra that promote visibility and inclusion of our LGBTIQ+ communities
Inclusive government policy and service delivery
  • Coordinating within government so that government services are better able to serve our LGBTIQ+ communities
  • Ensuring government processes avoid being bureaucratic or intrusive
  • Actively including LGBTIQ+ people in policy creation, program delivery and evaluation
  • Sensitively collecting and using representative data

We asked for your feedback on what is working well, and what could be improved.

Your views have been used to:

Your feedback has helped us know how to make life better for LGBTIQ+ people. We’ve read all the submissions and have carefully considered all feedback when we created the Capital of Equality strategy that focuses on the priorities and actions that LGBTIQ+ Canberrans want and need.

We have also had direct engagement with service providers and entities across Canberra who represent different individuals and communities, including vulnerable communities and minority groups, to ensure their views are reflected.

We’ve released a What We Heard report that shows the feedback we received.

On 25 June we released the Capital of Equality strategy which sets out how the ACT Government will continue to make Canberra the most LGBTIQ+ welcoming and inclusive city in Australia. This means ensuring Canberra is a place where the LGBTIQ+ people, their families and communities are visible, valued and respected. Our whole community benefits when all Canberrans are enabled to contribute and participate to their full potential.

For more information about services and support for LGBTIQ+ people in the ACT, please contact LGBTIQOffice@act.gov.au.