We held a successful fundraising event hosted by Gilbert & Tobin in Barangaroo Sydney on Thursday 28 July.
21 people attended a sit-down meal and heard from a range of speakers about the issues facing LGBTQIA+ refugees. Dennis Altman spoke of having parents who were refugees and endorsed the need for awareness that LGBTQIA+ displaced people can be extremely marginalised. Bob Carr discussed the global situation with increasing numbers of displaced people, being made worse by climate disasters as well as political unrest.
Sarah Dale, lawyer at Refugee Advice and Casework Service (RACS) in Sydney, explained how they are developing whole of service LGBTQIA+ inclusive practice and a toolkit for other services, funded by a PFA/Myer grant. They provide probono support for many people seeking asylum. Then Jay situated everything in the lived experience of queer displaced people in Sydney as a long-time peer supporter. They called for systemic change in organisations to be more inclusive of this group, as well as the need to call out racism.
We explained our LGBTQIA+ refugee sub-fund, which is designed to engage individual donors in supporting people, through both money and their time. Ultimately, we aim to sponsor individuals to come to Australia on humanitarian visas. This work is only possible in partnership with peer-led organisations including Forcible Displaced People Network (FDPN) and Many Coloured Sky.
