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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2019-04-30 Daily Xml
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LGBTIQA+ Community

The Hon. J.S. LEE (14:54): My question is to the Minister for Human Services about LGBTIQA+ inclusion. Can the minister please provide an update to the council on the progress that has been made on the government's commitment to holding a round table with members of the LGBTIQA+ community and others who are supporting the community in South Australia?

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (14:54): I thank the honourable member for her question. A number of parties would have received a letter in the lead-up to the election from the South Australian Rainbow Advocacy Alliance, including the Liberal Party. As a number of organisations that represent various cohorts of people want to do in the lead-up to the election, they put to us a number of questions and sought our formal responses prior to the election.

One of the commitments we made to SARAA is that we would host a round table to ensure that the voices of LGBTIQA+ people were heard at the highest levels of government, so I was very pleased that on 12 April we were able to fulfil that commitment with about 50 people in attendance to discuss a very broad range of issues. I am grateful that my colleagues the Hon. Stephen Wade and Carolyn Power were in attendance, particularly given there are issues that are quite relevant to their particular portfolios. We also held a one-off round of small grants that were aimed at increasing the sense of wellbeing and connectedness for young people who identify as LGBTIQA+, which will assist with the expertise of youth services.

A range of issues was raised at the round table, covering topics including youth, domestic and family violence, community capacity building, health and wellbeing, ageing and aged care, law and policing, economic participation in the workforce, safe spaces, training, regional concerns, invisibility and recognition. The day was followed up with a world cafe in the afternoon.

Clearly, there is a broad range of topics, and the feedback I have had was that it was probably all quite compressed in terms of the information to be gathered. However, there was very positive feedback in that we were engaging in this space and wished to continue to have some positive engagement.

I would like to thank the Department of Human Services and, in particular, principal policy officer Colleen Ross, who, I understand, is regularly engaging with people in the LGBTIQA+ community to ensure their issues are raised. I am personally very committed to it, and I know that my colleagues the Minister for Health and Wellbeing and the Minister for Education are also particularly keen to gain feedback from people so that we can ensure our policies and funding arrangements going forward are positive.

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