Pride Foundation Australia is pleased to announce the publication of a new report outlining the impacts on the health and wellbeing of LGBTQIA+ Australians living in regional and rural parts of Australian.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans & gender diverse, intersex, queer and asexual (LGBTIQA+) people are often challenged by significant levels of minority stress, structural stigma and discrimination, which impact their health and wellbeing in many negative ways. Research reviewed within the report shows these challenges are greater for the approximately 340,000 LGBTQA+ people living in regional, rural and remote Australia than their counterparts in Australia’s capital cities. In recent years, a small number of regional and rural health services have initiated LGBTQA+ specialist services or adapted mainstream services to be LGBTQA+ inclusive, however most have not, and none have included people with intersex variations. One reason for this lack of action is that data sources currently used in evidence-based planning by rural health services do not include data on LGBTIQA+ health.
Written by PFA Board Chair Dr Ruth McNair AM in partnership with former board member Ian Gould, This report fills this gap by reviewing recent Australian literature on the health status of LGBTIQA+ people living in rural areas compared with their urban counterparts and with non-LGBTIQA+ people in their local areas. The review should be used by rural health services to inform their strategic, operational and budgetary planning to improve their LGBTIQA+ inclusion. It is hoped such inclusion will reduce the health disadvantages experienced by many LGBTIQA+ people in rural Australia.
We want to give a special thanks to Ian Gould, not just for his work towards the development of the report, but also for his contribution to funding the design of this report.
Access the report via our Publications page or via our Regional & Rural LGBTQIA+ Communities Key Funding Area page.
