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Closing the gap in Indigenous LGBTI mental health

In the Aboriginal community, intentional self-harm is the most common cause of death for people aged between 15 and 34.

If the risk wasn’t already high enough, it’s even more pronounced among blackfellas who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex.

When Dameyon Bonson noticed that Commonwealth funded services weren’t catering for Indigenous people at the intersection of race, sexuality, and gender, he created Black Rainbow

Seven years on, Dameyon is still advocating for better representation and the inclusion of Indigenous LGBQTI voices, but even getting a seat at the table has proved an uphill battle.

Listen here via AWAYE

Image: The Tiwi Islands Sistagirls on Mardi Gras (fogaas)

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It’s time to talk about the suicide rates of Indigenous LGBQTI people in Australia

Nobody knows exactly how many LGBTI Indigenous Australians commit suicide each year, but we know it’s a lot. A new report released last week has highlighted the urgent need to address this issue.

The report from last year’s roundtable, which was released last week, identified the following necessary objectives:

  • To ensure that the voices of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander sexuality and gender diverse community are valued and present
  • To ensure ownership of the issues, the analysis and conclusions with respect to sexuality and gender diverse people
  • To ensure that new insights involving sexuality and gender diverse populations are recognised
  • To connect the voices of the sexuality and gender diverse community directly to evolving policy wherever possible and appropriate
  • To guide further development of ideas found in current reports and literature to supplement the sexuality and gender diverse populations’ concerns that emerged in the Roundtable.

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No data exists on suicide among gay and trans Indigenous Australians

No data exists on suicide among gay and trans Indigenous Australians. Lack of inclusion in decision making is holding back treatment, conference in Alice Springs to be told

No data exists on the rate of suicide among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQI people but the elevated risk is obvious and a lack of inclusion in decision making is holding back treatment, a conference will hear on Thursday.

This week more than 370 delegates will gather in Alice Springs for an inaugural conference on how to address the shockingly high rates of suicide among Indigenous Australians.

The conference will hear from a number of high-profile Indigenous campaigners and frontline workers to discuss how to lower the rates, which are far greater than for non-Indigenous Australians.

Nationally suicide rates are 11 deaths for every 100,000 people but that more than doubles for Indigenous people. When the data is broken down further it becomes even more concerning – Indigenous young people aged 25 to 29 take their own lives at a rate of is 91 in every 100,000 people. It is the leading cause of death for children under 14, and particular areas have seen tragic spikes in deaths.

via Guardian

 

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Indigenous LGBTQI suffering must be addressed, conference hears

The National Indigenous Mental Health and Wellbeing Forum has been told that more needs to be done to prevent suicide among Indigenous LGBTQI people.

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