LGBTI Health Update

A monthly review of LGBTI Health in Australia

Ageing and Aged Care

Focus Edition

Inside this edition: If you are viewing this document electronically you can click the
title of the article to jump ahead
Editorial: Progress of LGBTI Ageing Issues in Australia 2
Corey Irlam

The LGBTI Ageing and Aged Care Straegy in context 4

The Hon. Mark Butler MP
Older LGBTIQ Australians deserve respect, care and compassion 6
Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells

Speeches from National LGBTI Ageing and Aged Care Strategy launch
• Launch of LGBTI Ageing and Aged Care Strategy 8
Dr. Jo Harrison
• Comments by an LGBTI Elder 11
Noel Tovey

A Life In Hiding is a Life Half Lived –the ‘Special Needs’ of LGBTI Elders 13
Anneke Deutsch (Matrix Guild)
LGBTI inclusive aged care services 15
Catherine Barrett and Carolyn Whyte (GLHV)
Community and Well-Being: A Perth Forum on Ageing and Diversity 18
Daniel Parker, PhD.
LGBTI people ageing outrageously well 20
Sujay Kentlyn (Evergreen Life Care)
‘Who will I be when I get dementia?’ asked Mary 22
Norman Radican (Alzheimers Australia SA)
Update on Healthy Communities LGBT Community Visiting Scheme 24
Ann Matson

Health in Difference 2013: Ageing and Aged Care Stream 27

LGBTI Health Alliance News 28
Information for Members and Friends of the Alliance 29

LGBTI Health Update | Vol. 3, no 3. April 2013 1

Editorial: Progress of LGBTI Ageing issues in Australia
By Guest Editor, Corey Irlam, National LGBTI Health Alliance
This “ageing and aged care” focus edition is the first
of the Alliance’s national LGBTI Health Update to
specifically look at what the Alliance and our members
are doing to improve the health and wellbeing of older
LGBTI Australians.
In this edition. Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells,
Shadow Minister for Ageing, discusses the Coalitions
policies on aged care and reaffirms the Coalitions
support for ensuring that older LGBTIQ Australians
are treated with “respect, care and dignity”. Along with
former GRAI Board member, now WA Liberal Senator
Dean Smith, the Alliance met with Senator Fierravanti-
Wells last year. I walked away from that meeting with
a renewed sense of confidence that LGBTI health
issues were being heard and considered by the current
Opposition.
Minister for Ageing Mark Butler is also contributing his
first article for the LGBTI Health Update in this edition.
Minister Butler is well known to the LGBTI health sector
through the initiatives he has implemented in his
portfolio’s as Minister for Ageing and Mental Health.
Minister Butler confirms in his article that the Alliance
will be funded to deliver sensitivity training to aged
care workers. This commitment to this funding by the
Government was announced last April as part of the
Governments Living Longer Living Better aged care
reforms. Once the project is up and running over the
next few months, there will be more information of how
members can get involved.
As you would know the Australian Government
National LGBTI Ageing and Aged Care Strategy was
launched in Melbourne last December. In this edition
of the health update we have two of the speeches on
the day. The first from Dr Jo Harrison, welcomed the
Minister Mark Butler and provides a succinct history
of how LGBTI ageing got the prominence it has today.
The second was the moving speech by gay Indigenous
2 LGBTI Health Update | Vol. 3, no 3 April 2013
elder Noel Tovey, which includes a link to a video of
his speech – very powerful and moving video which I
highly recommend.
All around the country, National LGBTI Health Alliance
members are actively working to improve the
health and wellbeing of older LGBTI people. A few
organisations provide an update on their work in this
edition. Matrix Guild Victoria’s Anneke Deutsch provides
a personal story about the special needs of LGBTI elders,
while Gay & Lesbian Health Victoria’s Carolyn Whyte and
Catherine Barrett outlines Val Café’s approach to LGBTI
inclusive aged care services. Ann Matson from Healthy
Communities in Queensland tells us about Australia’s
first LGBTI specific Community Visiting Scheme for
older LGBTI Australians. Former Alliance staff member,
now LGBTI Project Officer at Evergreen Life Care Sujay
Kentlyn gives an update on their Outrageous Ageing
project for LGBTI seniors across areas in NSW. NSW’s
ACON Health is promoting their recently commenced
‘Project LOVE (Living Older Visibly and Engaged)’ which
hopes to delve into the service needs and preferences
of older LGBTI people, while also recording and sharing
a range of personal stories. WA based Gay and Lesbian
Retirement Inc (GRAI) Board member Daniel Parker,
reports on a local forum designed at improving the
mental health of older LGBTI people in WA. From
SA, Alzheimers Australia’s Norman Radican explores
transwoman Mary’s progression with dementia and
the solutions being discussed as part of their training
program currently under development. I’d like to thank
all these members and their organisations for their
contributions to this bumper edition – it really does
show the fantastic work that’s being done.
Collectively these articles show the rich depth and
breadth of activity in Australia around LGBTI ageing
and aged care. The upcoming Health in Difference
conference has a few more spaces available for people
to register for as part of the Ageing and Aged Care
Stream. Participating in the panels, plenaries and
concurrent ageing streams will provide further detailed
understanding of the issues facing LGBTI Australians
today. To register go to www.lgbtihealth.org.au/hid
I hope you enjoy reading the Update as much as I’ve
enjoyed collating and editing it.
this means I have had to resign as the (volunteer)
Convenor of the National LGBTI Health Alliance’s Ageing
and Aged Care Working Group. I’d like to thank my
fellow Working Group members, Warran Talbot General
Manager and the Alliance’s Policy Officers Sujay Kentlyn
and Gavi Ansara for their support, collaboration and
dedication during this time – it’s been a fantastic 18
months working so closely with you all.

Corey Irlam I look forward to continued involvement in the Alliance

Ageing and Aged Care Convenor
National LGBTI Health Alliance
PS
Recently I was appointed as the Principal Policy Officer,
Aged Care Reforms, employed by COTA Australia,
working with the National Aged Care Alliance. Sadly,
and progressing the important work of the Alliance to
promote inclusive, respectful, equitable care for the
elders in our communities. In this update you’ll see the
Alliance is calling for members to take a more active
participation in the ageing and aged care work we do –
please consider nominating yourself to join our working
group or reference group.

Call for Members - Ageing & Aged Care Working Group

There are a small number of vacancies on the Alliance’s Ageing and Aged Care Working Group. The working
group meets via telephone every two months for 1.5 hours and is supported by wider group of interested
alliance members on the Ageing & Aged Care Reference Group who contributes via email to the work of
the Alliance in this area.

The role of the working group is to:

• provide advice to the Alliance Board on the range of policy and program issues which impact on the
lives of ageing LGBTI people and communities.
• alert the Alliance Board to any emerging issues which require the attention of the Alliance.
• promote awareness of LGBTI older people and issues impacting on their health and wellbeing. In
doing so the group acknowledges the centrality of LGBTI older people as consumers and carers and the
need to equip them to advocate in their own behalf and have an active role in any process concerning
them.
• monitor and advise the Alliance concerning progress in the implementation of relevant initiatives
affecting LGBTI people and communities.

If you are passionate about LGBTI ageing issues, we’d love to hear from you. All you need to do is send a
short email outlining a bit about yourself and your involvement with LGBTI ageing issues:

Warren Talbot, General Manager, National LGBTI Health Alliance

02 8568 1120 / 0458 039 685 / warren.talbot@lgbtihealth.org.au

LGBTI Health Update | Vol. 3, no 3. April 2013 3

 The LGBTI Ageing and Aged
Care Straegy in context
by Mark Butler, Minster for Mental Health and Ageing
The work of the LGBTI
Health Alliance in promoting
the health and wellbeing
of lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender and intersex
Australians is beyond
commendable. In my
portfolio of ageing, being
aware of the needs of
LGBTI Australians is of vital
importance and the Alliance
has been the primary driver of reform in the sector
– most notably through its work on the LGBTI
Ageing and Aged Care Strategy which I launched
in December last year.
This Strategy, with its principles and monitored
goals and actions, will greatly improve the aged
care experience for older LGBTI Australians. It
will help inform the delivery of the Gillard Labor
Government’s $3.7 billion aged care reforms, so
vital to older LGBTI Australians.
In order to respond effectively to the needs of
older LGBTI Australians, a number of issues need
to be recognised.
Firstly, LGBTI people have suffered decades
of inequitable treatment in this country. The
Government is working to remove many of the
remaining barriers to equity and, as I write, aged
care legislation is before the Australian Parliament
which if enacted will be the first Commonwealth
Act to explicitly name LGBTI people. The
legislation and subordinate principles will
enshrine LGBTI people as a special needs group
within the aged care system – along with veterans,
4 LGBTI Health Update | Vol. 3, no 3 April 2013
people from CALD communities and people who
are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
Secondly, many LGBTI people (particularly older
people) have been stigmatised and have suffered
family rejection and social isolation. While we
can’t turn back the clock, we can make sure that
older LGBTI people do not continue to have
these experiences when they enter the aged care
system.
In addition, the life experience of many older
LGBTI people has included fear, persecution and
discrimination. This is a consistent theme raised
in the Productivity Commission inquiry into aged
care as well as in my conversations on ageing
held across the country following release of the
Productivity Commission report.
To help address this, the Government is funding
the Alliance to deliver sensitivity training to aged
care providers across the system. This will help to
make sure that the experience of LGBTI people in
aged care is a positive one, and one of the most
difficult decision of many people’s lives – entering
aged care – is no more difficult for older LGBTI
people than for anyone else.
Many of you reading this will have also read the
Strategy, which comprises six strategic goals,
backed by tangible actions – all of them to be
monitored in an ongoing way. These goals are
about making sure that:
• LGBTI people experience equitable access
to appropriate ageing and aged care
services;
 • The aged care and LGBTI sectors will be
supported and resourced to proactively
address the needs of older LGBTI people;
• Aged and aged care services will be
supported to deliver LGBTI-inclusive
services;
• LGBTI-inclusive ageing and aged care
services will be delivered by a skilled and
competent paid and volunteer workforce;
• LGBTI communities, including older
LGBTI people, will be actively engaged in
the planning, delivery and evaluation of
ageing and aged care policies, programs
and services; and
• LGBTI people, their families and carers
will be a priority for ageing and aged care
research.
To help reach these goals and evaluate their
associated actions, an annual report will be
prepared by the Department of Health and
Ageing in consultation with stakeholders. In
Hon. Mark Butler MP. speaking at the launch of
the LGBTI Ageing and Aged Care Strategy
addition, a formal review of the Strategy will be
undertaken as part of the 2017 review of the
Living Longer. Living Better. aged care reform
package.
But this Government has done, and continues to
do, much more for LGTBI people than improve
access to appropriate ageing and aged care
services.
Most recently, legislation has been introduced
to protect Australians against discrimination on
the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity
and intersex status through changes to the Sex
Discrimination Act.
This change builds on the Labor Government’s
reforms to 85 pieces of legislation which removed
discrimination against same-sex couples and their
children.
In another of my portfolios, mental health, we
have made LGBTI youth a priority group for our
headspace youth mental health service, as well
as funded the innovative new project MindOUT!,
which is driving more LGBTI-sensitive services
through our general mental health system.
MindOUT! brings together professionals and
organisations from across Australia to share best
practices, train our mental health professionals,
and do some critical policy and advocacy work on
behalf of LGBTI Australians with a mental illness.
I am proud to have the opportunity to contribute
to creating an Australia that is genuinely inclusive
of LGBTI people, and I look forward to continuing
on this path.
LGBTI Health Update | Vol. 3, no 3. April 2013 5
 Older LGBTIQ Australians
deserve respect, care and
compassion
by Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, Shadow Minister for Ageing

The ageing of the Australian with the same respect, care and compassion when
population is one of the utilising an aged care facility as any other member
biggest issues facing our of the Australian community. We need a balanced
nation. and common-sense approach.

Thanks to breakthroughs in
medical science we are living
longer which we would all
applaud but as a consequence
we have a rapidly ageing
population.
To this end we will ensure that the residential and
community care providers around Australia have
the appropriate resources and support to ensure
that their services are delivered with the highest
standards and flexibility to ensure that their
practices are inclusive and non-discriminatory.

Currently approximately 9% of our population The biggest threat to the quality of service of all
is aged 70 years or older but this is expected to older Australians is the financial viability of the
rise to 20%, around 5.7 million people by 2051, aged care sector. The dependency ratio in 2007
when over 3.5 million was 6.0 working people
Australians are expected
to require aged care
‘We believe that older LGBTIQ to support every person
aged 67 years and over
services each year. Australians should be treated but by 2047, this will

Moreover, we are
with the same respect, care be almost halved to 3.2
people of working age.
acquiring more complex and compassion when utilising In order to survive, the
health conditions and sector is appealing for
seeing changing disease an aged care facility as any much needed reform.
patterns as a result of the other member of the Australian
growth in ageing. These
are challenges that must community. We need a
be met. balanced and common-sense
According to Aged
The Coalition is extremely approach.’ Care services Australia,
supportive and has only 40% of aged care
a strong track-record of embracing a non- providers are operating in the black. At a time
discriminatory approach to the provision of aged when there is an ever increasing demand for
care services, as in all other sectors. We believe services, providers are walking away from the
that older LGBTIQ Australians should be treated sector due to the lack of viability of providing

6 LGBTI Health Update | Vol. 3, no 3 April 2013


high care beds and the increasing compliance
demands from the government.
Another serious challenge is that the aged care
workforce is itself ageing. It is difficult to attract
younger people to the industry given its “poor
cousin status”, whereby the sector has diminished
under Labor. We have also had several reports that
aged care nurses spend up to one-third of their
day doing paperwork, instead of caring for our
elderly.
There is growing and alarming evidence that
under these conditions the aged care sector
cannot provide the care that Australians expect
nor meet any future challenges as previously
outlined.
I look forward to working with your Health
Alliance and other stakeholders across the sector
in formulating an appropriate strategy to meet
these demands.
Our commitment to deliver the first ever 4 -Year
Agreement with the sector is the right approach.
It will not only give the sector certainty, but will
also ensure greater flexibility to enable older
Australians to receive the care they need, where
they need it and when they need it.
Until there is proper structural reform of our
ageing and aged care system, the care and well-
being of all senior Australians is at risk and they
deserve better.
Senator Fierravanti-Wells and former GRAI board member, Senator Dean
Smith meets with meets with LGBTI Health Alliance representatives, Warren
Talbot and Corey Irlam in July 2012
Update: Legislative Reforms
affecting older LGBTI
Australians
By Corey Irlam
The Parliament currently has two bills affecting older
LGBTI Australians scheduled for passage before June
2013. The first is to cement in legislation last year’s
historic inclusion of LGBTI people in the Aged Care
Act as a ‘special needs group’. This is an important and
appropriate recognition that inclusive behaviour for
LGBTI seniors should be above politics or partisan views.
The second is the long overdue introduction of federal
protections from discrimination on the grounds of
‘sexual orientation’, ‘gender identity’ and ‘intersex status’
through amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act.
This bill enjoys tri-partisan support with all three parties
committing to enacting this legislation at the 2010
election.
One particular area of concern from the changes to the
Sex Discrimination Act relates to faith-based aged care
providers. Most of the large church-affiliated providers
(such as Catholic Healthcare, Anglicare Australia and
UnitingCare) have indicated they provide services on
a non-discriminatory basis to LGBTI people. However
as we know after a lifetime of discrimination, many
older LGBTI people are apprehensive about accessing a
religiously run aged care service. Legislative guarantees
protecting older LGBTI Australians from discrimination
will go a long way to allaying these genuine concerns.
The Opposition has not yet formed a view on these bills.
Both bills have a Senate Inquiry currently underway
which I would actively encourage everyone to make a
submission to. Submissions can be as simple as a few
paragraphs outlining why you think older LGBTI people
deserve special needs recognition (in the Aged Care
Inquiry) and why LGBTI people should be included
in federal anti-discrimination laws (including when
accessing aged care services). Submissions close for the
Aged Care Reform Bill’s inquiry close on 22 April, with
the Sex Discrimination Act Inquiry submissions closing
on 26 April.
LGBTI Health Update | Vol. 3, no 3. April 2013 7
 Speeches from National LGBTI
Ageing and Aged Care Strategy launch
20 December 2012, Melbourne

Introductory Remarks and Welcoming the Minister.

by Dr Jo Harrison, School of Health Sciences, University of South Australia
I stand to speak on Wurundjeri So Minister, we have both travelled here from the great
land. seat of Port Adelaide today to be part of an event that
only a very few years ago would have been hard to
I am both honoured and delighted envisage.
to be given the opportunity to
speak at this landmark event today I spent over a decade working in Indigenous aged
and to welcome the Minister for care in the Northern Territory, having moved there
Mental Health and Ageing, the from Sydney, and I was aware of the importance of
Hon. Mark Butler and thank him for recognition as a special needs group in aged care
what he has done and continues to do for the LGBTI and of the process of the government’s development
community and our elders. of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Aged Care
Strategic Plan. I could see the vital importance of
You may be interested to know that Mark also happens recognition in this way, and the way in which the LGBTI
to be the Federal Member community could benefit
for the seat of Port Adelaide ‘You have to pave the way, do from this approach.
and I am extremely
fortunate to report that the groundwork, raise the issue I travelled to San Francisco
he is therefore my local and be prepared, over a large and made my first contact
member of parliament.
And in case you doubt that,
number of years, because when in 1989 with an advocate
working in an LGBTI
I have proof - my much you least expect it the window aged rights advocacy
loved MP for Port Adelaide
shopping bag – here it is! I
of opportunity for the change service. He told me about
a transgender elder in
don’t leave home without you want to see take place will residential care being
it! – And Minister, I know open, and you must be ready to forced to wear certain
the next print run will be in clothes against her will and
rainbow colours! go through it in case it closes’. the battle that took place
to change that situation. I was already looking at the
Mark Butler is greatly admired and cherished by issue of LGBTI aged care, but after that conversation, I
his electorate I can definitely report – and plenty of was hooked.
conversations overheard at local shops can also attest
to that. My Doctoral research looked at the process of change
and the social movement that led to the recognition

8 LGBTI Health Update | Vol. 3, no 3 April 2013

of LGBTI ageing issues in the United States of America
and the relevance of that for Australia. When I
commenced my Masters degree looking at LGBTI aged
care in 1996 and then began the PhD in 1998, I felt
somewhat alone in the academic and aged care sector
wilderness. But supportive colleagues around me and
allies, particularly elders, as well as friends and family
who were not elders then but are now (!) kept me
going.
One of the key concepts that emerged from my
research was that of a ‘window of opportunity’.
Minister, in 2010, when your portfolio came to include
ageing I could literally feel the wonderful cool breeze
blowing in, as the window opened for us, with your
hand opening it. As LGBTI gerontologists and activists
in the US told me: ‘You have to pave the way, do the
groundwork, raise the issue and be prepared, over a
large number of years, because when you least expect
it the window of opportunity for the change you want
to see take place will open, and you must be ready to
go through it in case it closes’.
This was critically important – and I think that our
community, our elders and our organisations have
done precisely that – we have been paving the way,
in conjunction with so many allies, including from
the aged care sector, raising the issues, working on
spreading the word – literally for decades.
If I was to list all the vitally
important workshops,
submissions to inquiries,
conference panels, working
groups, projects, articles, letters,
reports, web sites, yahoo groups,
festival forums, roundtables,
facebook pages, meetings,
discussion papers, media Mark Orr (ACON), Paul Martin (Alliance / Healthy Communities), Dr Jo Harrison (UNI SA),
coverage, consultations and brave Nicolas Parkhill (ACON), Mark Butler MP, Warren Talbot (Alliance), Corey Irlam (Alliance /
ACON) at the inaugural Ageing and Aged Care Roundtable, Sydney, November 2011.
outspoken LGBTI elders, I would
be breaking my promise to be brief. In fact we’d be
here for hours.
Sessions on ageing were held at Health in Difference
conferences in the 1990s and in 2002, included
international panellists, US experts and elders and
a keynote speaker on ageing from Services and
Advocacy for GLBT Elders in New York, visiting Sydney
for the gay games. In 2004 Rainbow Visions from the
Hunter and University of Newcastle forums included
academics, service providers, and elders. At the 2006
Australian Association of Gerontology conference
we held two back to back sessions of presentations
from across Australia on LGBTI ageing. The conference
theme was diversity and the time was right. Elders who
initiated action, spoke out and still speak out so many
times over so many years about ageing include Kendall
Lovett and Mannie de Saxe from Lesbian and Gay
Solidarity, David Urquhart, Sandy McDonald, Dorothy
McRae-McMahon, Kate Lavender, Jane Kent, Noel
Tovey, Ian Purcell, Darryl Butler, and so many others.
Across Australia, there was outstanding, innovative
action taking place in a collaborative way, as so many
of us here remember. An overview of this action is
outlined in the 2010 Australian Coalition for Equality
and Diversity Futures Discussion Paper I co-authored
with Corey Irlam, looking at the implications of the
law reform recognising same-sex relationships for
LGBTI Health Update | Vol. 3, no 3. April 2013 9
aged care. The paper is listed in the strategy. That
document formed the basis of discussions with the
federal government about LGBTI ageing and the need
for measures that recognised LGBTI ageing and aged
care, including the issue of recognition as a special
needs group in the Aged Care Act and the prospect of
a strategy.
Now here we are today – with a government that
takes LGBTI aged care seriously and a Minister with
the understanding, courage and foresight to open the
window for us.
Finally, I want to mention two other concepts that
shone through in my research. One was the concept
of self-determination, a concept well understood in
relation to Indigenous needs, and relevant also to
LGBTI elders – the
‘nothing about us ‘One gay older man, then living in
without us’ principle a residential facility in New South
that those who
experience the issue
Wales, who has sadly recently
in their own lives are passed away, made contact with
the actual experts and
must be heard and
me and despite a life of activism,
given decision making was still hesitant and fearful about
roles in relation to the the consequences of speaking up.‘
processes that impact
on their lives.
It was clear to our community that this is a principle
that Mark Butler knew and understood, and it was
evident in the way the Minister’s conversations
following the Productivity Commission report
took place. Across Australia, at almost all of those
conversation forums (including Ian Purcell, the first
speaker from the floor at the first conversation in
Adelaide) our elders spoke up knowing that the
Minister wanted to hear and would listen to what
they had to say. Some who spoke were long term
activists; others were people who had never spoken up
before. One gay older man, then living in a residential
facility in New South Wales, who has sadly recently
passed away, made contact with me and despite a
life of activism, was still hesitant and fearful about the
consequences of speaking up.
10 LGBTI Health Update | Vol. 3, no 3 April 2013
Yet stand and speak up he did, and it was understood
by him and other LGBTI elders that the Minister did not
approve of discrimination or persecution, understood
the nature of the lives that people had lived and
wanted to hear their ideas and opinions from their
own mouths. That brave older man told me he felt
proud and he was even changing the attitudes of
other residents where he lived.
That the exposure draft of the proposed federal anti-
discrimination legislation prohibits commonwealth
funded aged care providers from discriminating
against our elders is further evidence that the
government understands how important this issue
is. Including a prohibition on discrimination in
relation to employment in aged care, so that our
elders, particularly in residential facilities, know that
they have open, out and
proud supportive staff
around them, even if they
themselves are not out,
would also send a vitally
important positive signal.
Last, the concept of a
‘champion’ was one of
the first raised with me
in my research in 1997.
Participants and change agents told me a champion
was needed to take up the issue of LGBTI aged care at
a prominent public level, so that we could finally see
our elders treated with dignity, living without fear, and
genuinely celebrated across the Australian community
and the aged care sector.
The idea that this champion might be my own local
MP who would become the federal Minister for Ageing
did not cross my mind 15 years ago I can assure you!
Minister, we are indebted to you as a champion who
understands and is devoted to justice. I am honoured
to welcome you here today and to thank you on behalf
of our community.
 Speeches from National LGBTI Ageing and Aged
Care Strategy Launch cont.

Comments by an LGBTI Elder by Noel Tovey, Gay Indigenous Elder

I pay respect to the spirits of life long years. There’s never been a more momentous
my ancestors, they are with me change than this, nor a more significant one. But I’d
constantly and if it had not been like to remind you what it was like for me growing up
for their strength, I would not be in Melbourne.
standing here this morning. In
‘You know during all those years of
a few days time, I’ll be 79 years
old. I’m often referred to as
one of the stolen generation. being out there, I never once dreamt
I was taken away from family that I would return to Australia and
here in Carlton in 1939. I’ve
had no formal education and by the age of 12 I was
be standing here in Melbourne,
a hustler and a rent boy. congratulating the Government of
I would like to take you back, before I mention what
Australia for finally recognising
the strategy means to me. I’ve seen many many L G B T I people as human beings.’
changes to the LGBTI community throughout my

62 years ago I was arrested at a party in South

Melbourne, taken to the local police station, beaten
up, charged with the abdominal crime of buggery for
which the death penalty was on the statutes and sent
to Pentridge goal to await sentencing.

Then a year later, came the news that shocked the

world. A young American GI named George Jorgensen,
went to Denmark, had the first sex change operation
and returned to America as Miss Christine Jorgensen.

In June 1969, I was beaten up by the police in

Noel Tovey, speaking at the launch of the National LGBTI
Ageing and Aged Care Strategy
Christopher Street during the Stonewall Riots. In fact I
still have the scar. We linked arms, we marched down
Christopher Street and we chanted ‘Gay Power, Gay
Power’. Four days later, the rise of the gay liberation
movement came about.

LGBTI Health Update | Vol. 3, no 3. April 2013 11

In 1981, my lover of 17 years was one of the first men On behalf of the wider community, I would like
to die from HIV/AIDS in London. With the help of a to thank ACON, Corey Irlam, my good friend Dr Jo
young New Zealand psychologist, I then set up the first Harrison and all those people who took time to fill
AIDS training clinic at St Mary’s Hospital in London to in the many questionaires that were sent out, I don’t
help dispel the myths that were surrounding the virus. know everyone by name. But most of all I would like
to thank the Minister, the Honourable Mark Butler for
You know during all those years of being out there, I ensuring that all members of the LGBTI community can
never once dreamt that I would return to Australia and receive sensitive care as they get older.
be standing here in Melbourne, congratulating the
Government of Australia for finally recognising L G B T I Thank you very much.
people as human beings.
You can watch a video of this speech at
Like many other Australian minority groups, we https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-mIQE5oIxg
need special care as we get older. I recently had an
experience in the Royal Melbourne Hospital that
could’ve been embarrassing to anyone else. I was
diagnosed with a rare cancer and because of the
nature of my cancer, I had a long discussion with my
doctor Professor Ian Jones about my
sexuality and my life. I was sexually Later on that day the same young
abused by a drunken uncle at the age of doctor came back and whispered
four and its thought that that’s when the
cancer began.
“You’re negative”. So at the top of my
voice I said “Young man! Not all gay
One morning Professor Jones asked
me if he could bring a number of his
men are HIV positive and certainly not
young doctors and students to ask me gay men of my generation.”
questions. So they came into my ward,
it’s a public ward with six other male patients and one
female. The students stood around the bed and one
young doctor said “I’ve been reading your medical file
and your homosexual.” He said “I think we should take
blood and test you for HIV”. So I gave some blood.

Later on that day the same young doctor came back

and whispered “You’re negative”. So at the top of
my voice I said “Young man! Not all gay men are HIV
positive and certainly not gay men of my generation.”

Well this new strategy will address that infringement

of cultural insensitivity and for that I am eternally
grateful.

12 LGBTI Health Update | Vol. 3, no 3 April 2013

 A Life In Hiding is a Life Half
Lived –the ‘Special Needs’ of
LGBTI Elders
by Anneke Deutsch, Housing and Aged Care Spokesperson
Matrix Guild of Victoria
Imagine a life where you had
to hide your true identity. My
aunts, uncles, grandparents
and cousins tried to do just
this so that they wouldn’t be
humiliated, assaulted, lose their
jobs or worse. But because
they were Jewish & lived in
NAZI-occupied Europe in the
1930’s and 1040’s the “worse”
did happen and they died in
the notorious death camps of Treblinka and Auschwitz.
In my younger years, I wanted to be liked and
accepted, rather than ostracised and bashed, and so
I generally hid the fact that I was lesbian (and that I
had a Jewish heritage). I had the occasional boyfriend,
knowledge of my lesbian lovers was kept by a few,
close, trusted friends. Twenty six years ago, when
my partner and I started our relationship, we kept
it hidden for the first few years because we had a
number of newly-lesbian friends who had custody of
their children awarded to their ex-husbands because
they were considered unfit mothers because of their
lesbianism. We didn’t want that to happen to us and
our 3 kids. After all, homosexuals were still considered
criminals in some states, diseased by the medical
profession and are seen as sinners by many religious
groups.
Although 2009, brought sweeping changes to
Australian legislation meaning that we finally had
equality before the law in many areas; attitudes and
public opinion can lag behind.
Most institutions have heterosexist assumptions
behind their documentation and governance
procedures. When we were admitting my partner’s
mother into aged care, I noticed the forms all assumed
heterosexuality. They asked “Are you married, single,
divorced or separated?” Sometimes, if they were a
bit more progressive, they might also have “defacto”
as an option. There was no spot for me on those
forms. The message I received from this was that only
heterosexuals were welcome. My experience of most
hospital and Aged Care intake forms indicates that this
is not an isolated example.
I am a committee member of the Matrix Guild of
Victoria. The Matrix Guild Victoria Inc. was founded by
a group of lesbian feminists for the benefit of older
lesbians. We promote appropriate care, support and
provide advocacy for older lesbians. We challenge
ageism and oppose discrimination. We educate
aged care providers about how to provide inclusive,
affirming care for lesbians. We also provide some
accommodation in Victoria for older lesbians who are
financially disadvantaged.
Matrix in conjunction with Vintage Men, has published
two studies - My People (2007) & Permission to Speak
(2009) - which show that older LGBTI people are
discriminated against in aged care services. The studies
also show that positive attitudes from service providers
LGBTI Health Update | Vol. 3, no 3. April 2013 13
go a long way to creating a welcoming environment. doesn’t have this percentage of staff and clients who
Our booklet, We Live Here Too: A Guide to Inclusive are openly LGBTI; they are still there, but they will be
Practice in Aged Care, (2011) is designed to assist aged closeted. I urge you to educate yourself about how
care staff to understand our needs and the inherent your service could become inclusive, so that we can all
heterosexism of most institutions. Lesbians face the come out.
double disadvantage of homophobia and sexism.
Matrix’s publications can be downloaded free at
Most aged care in Australia is provided by faith-based www.matrixguildvic.org.au
organisations which, although taxpayer funded, have
exemptions from anti-discrimination laws. Many
lesbians fear using aged care services because they
expect (and often receive) homophobic treatment. I
visit and support an older
lesbian who lives in an
Islamic aged care facility. She
is not Islamic and had been
an “out” lesbian for about 30
years. After her 25 year-long
relationship ended, she was
very upset and disturbed.
She went to live with her
daughter, but after a few
months, she attempted
suicide. Her stomach was
pumped and then the acute
hospital needed to discharge
her. Her daughter didn’t
want her back. The Islamic
facility had a bed available,
so this is where she went to
live. She has not disclosed
her sexuality to the staff
there, because she expects
poorer care, or possibly
being asked to leave. She
sometimes hears the staff
make disparaging comments
about gays.

Experiences like hers indicate that there is a great

need for Aged Care organisations to learn about how
to be welcoming and affirming to all clients including
the 11% of us who are LGBTI. If your organisation

14 LGBTI Health Update | Vol. 3, no 3 April 2013

 LGBTI inclusive aged care
services
by Carolyn Whyte, Research and Community Liaison Officer, and
Catherine Barrett, Research Fellow and Community Liaison Officer
Gay & Lesbian Health Victoria, Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society,
La Trobe University
Government support for
LGBTI inclusive services
In 2012 the federal
government launched its
national strategy on LGBTI
Ageing and Aged Care. One
of the goals outlined in the
Carolyn Whyte
strategy is a commitment by
the government to support
ageing and aged care services
to deliver LGBTI inclusive
services. Val’s Café and GLHV
are supporting this goal
through the development of
national standards for LGBTI
inclusive practice.
Dr Catherine Barrett
National Standards for LGBTI inclusive practice
One of the most frequent requests to Gay and Lesbian
Health Victoria is from GLBTI community members
who want a list of health and human services that
are GLBTI-inclusive. Many are aware that services can
show they are GLBTI ‘friendly’ by placing a rainbow
flag on their door or website, or by listing their service
in GLBTI media. However, increasingly members of
the GLBTI community want assurances that services
understand and will be responsive to their needs. The
number of these requests has escalated significantly
since the 2008 report: Well Proud: A guide to gay,
lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex inclusive
practice for health and human services (Department of
Health Victoria). These government guidelines outline
the evidence relating to the needs of GLBTI people and
present generic recommendations for GLBTI inclusive
practice.
‘Many [LGBTI People] are aware
that services can show they
are GLBTI ‘friendly’ by placing
a rainbow flag on their door or
website... increasingly, members
of the GLBTI community
want assurances that services
understand and will be
responsive to their needs.’
In 2009 Gay and Lesbian Health Victoria responded
to the demand for information about inclusive
services with the development of a set of National
Standards for LGBTI Inclusive Practice. The Standards
were adapted from the generic recommendations
in Well Proud to ensure their practical application
to the quality systems of most health and human
services. The 6 standards and 25 indicators have been
refined over 4 years of consultation with hundreds of
consumers and service providers. This has included
LGBTI Health Update | Vol. 3, no 3. April 2013 15
development of a number of resources exploring the
application of the Standards to a range of aged care
settings/situations including:
1. The CAC Pack: a resource documenting the
application of the National Standards for LGBTI
inclusive practice to community aged care
services
2. The RAC Pack: guide to residential aged care
3. The TRAC Pack: guide to the care of older trans
people
4. The Ruck Pack: guide for rural services
For more information on the National Standards for
GLBTI inclusive practice go to:
http://www.glhv.org.au/inclusive-practice
The guiding principle underlying the Standards is
that GLBTI-inclusive practice requires organisational
change or a systemic approach. This systemic approach
recognises that professional development is an
important component of change, but on its own is not
sufficient to sustain change. Professional development
needs to be supported by policies, procedures and
structures that are endorsed by management.
The Standards can be utilised in a number of ways,
including a self-audit, a How2 program or the Rainbow
Tick.
The self-audit
Gay and Lesbian Health Victoria has developed a
simple audit tool to enable organisations to check their
performance against the Standards. Responses to 25
statements about GLBTI inclusive practice are tallied
to provide an overall score. The audit can be repeated
over time to monitor improvements and provides a
really useful focus for discussion and debate amongst
staff and for planning for change.
How2 create a GLBTI inclusive service
Gay and Lesbian Victoria has developed the How2
program to coach organisations through the practical
steps involved in implementing the Standards.
16 LGBTI Health Update | Vol. 3, no 3 April 2013
Participating organisations identify a change facilitator
who attends five workshops over a 12 month period
with phone support between workshops. The How2
program is in its 4th year and has supported over
40 organisations to develop a more GLBTI inclusive
service.
HACC How2
Gay and Lesbian Health Victoria is currently working in
partnership with the Municipal Association of Victoria
to conduct a How2 program specifically for Home
and Community Care (HACC) Services. The project
is funded by the Department of Health, Victoria and
follows on from their Diversity Planning process which
explicitly encourages HACC services to address the
needs of GLBTI clients. The HACC How2 pilot will start
in May 2013 and repeated in the second half of the
year.
The Rainbow Tick
The Rainbow Tick is an accreditation program
developed by Gay and Lesbian Health Victoria
in partnership with Quality Improvement and
Community Services Accreditation (QICSA) and with
funding from the Victorian Department of Health. The
Rainbow Tick guides organisations through a cycle
of self-assessment against the National Standards
for GLBTI inclusive practice and review by external
assessors. Organisations that meet the Standards are
then provided with a Rainbow Tick.
Getting involved
Membership to Val’s Café is free and simply involves
providing your email address so that you can receive
our monthly newsletter. The newsletter contains all
the information on upcoming events, new resources
and relevant news. If you’d like to become a member
or you’d like to find out more visit our website valscafe.
org.au
 About Val’s Café

Val’s Café is a project coordinated by Gay and Lesbian Health Victoria

that seeks to improve the health and wellbeing of older LGBTI
people. Central to this aim is creating safe and inclusive services that
recognise and value older LGBTI clients. This is achieved by working
directly with service providers to foster an understanding of the
unique histories and experiences of their older LGBTI clients.

Val’s Café works alongside service provides in a number of ways to create inclusive services for older LGBTI
people. These include: education, research, resource development, advocacy, and contributing to policy
and strategy. We also hold 4 events each year and communicate monthly through a newsletter with 160
members. Val’s Café will also be communicating across the country with our website that we are launching
at the start of April. There people can find resources, links, news and support.

For any further enquiries about Val’s Café contact

Carolyn Whyte
P: 03 9285 5163
E: c.whyte@latrobe.edu.au or go to our website
www.valscafe.org.au

LOVE
(Living Older Visibly and
Engaged) Project

LOVE (Living Older Visibly and Engaged) is a new ACON project that aims to kick-start a conversation
in our community about GLBT aged care, support needs and preferences to help develop better
services.

Whilst we acknowledge there has been discrimination in the past, we are looking to build on the
strengths of the GLBT community in providing informed feedback to the NSW Government.

We are running small consultations in NSW in April to gather your opinions, ideas and concerns. Later
in the year we will host a forum in your area and have a website facility to upload personal stories.

To register your interest for the initial small consultations or opportunities to provide personal stories
please visit http://www.acon.org.au/ageing/loveproject

LGBTI Health Update | Vol. 3, no 3. April 2013 17

 Community and Well-Being:
A Perth Forum on Ageing
and Diversity
By Daniel Parker PhD, Board Member,
Gay & Lesbian Retirement Association (GRAI)

On 3 December 2012, GRAI opportunity for older adult community members to

co-sponsored with the Living represent and to speak for themselves on these broad
Proud/LGBTI OneLife Suicide issues—as both GRAI and Living Proud believe that
Prevention Committee an older adult experiences and perspectives must be the
evening forum on Ageing and foundation for bringing about change in mental health
Diversity. Coming near the services.
time of the announcement
of the Commonwealth’s new The City of Vincent has a large LGBTI community, and
National LGBTI Ageing and the City has been active in both LGBTI and suicide
Aged Care Strategy, this forum prevention efforts. The forum, held at the City of
addressed two important issues: Full inclusion of Vincent Administrative Centre, was opened by Living
LGBTI older adults in ageing programs, services and Proud Community Coordinator Tamara Bezu, and as
institutions; and bringing this focus on inclusion to a GRAI Board Member and Living Proud Reference
suicide prevention efforts, Group Member, I
and older adult mental ‘...both GRAI and Living Proud chaired the community
health services more panel and spoke to
broadly. spoke to increasing collaborations GRAI’s advocacy work
with mainstream mental health in the aged care and
Living Proud’s suicide
prevention campaign has
and suicide prevention programs; mental health sectors.

seen improving LGBTI and to moving from awareness In introductions to

community connections,
cohesion and mutual
supports--and decreasing
discrimination within our
communities--as key to
reducing mental health
risks and improving
well-being. This forum
was designed as an
to action in addressing how the evening, both
GRAI and Living Proud
discrimination and stigma spoke to increasing
elevated rates of depression, collaborations with
mainstream mental
anxiety and suicidal thoughts health and suicide
and behaviours among LGBTI prevention programs;
community members.’ and to moving from
awareness to action in

18 LGBTI Health Update | Vol. 3, no 3 April 2013

addressing how discrimination and stigma elevated
rates of depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts and
behaviours among LGBTI community members.
The core of the evening was four presentations
on ageing, resilience and overcoming isolation by
veteran LGBTI community members Geoff Davis, Dr.
Sandra Bowdler, June Lowe, and Dr. Alan Emery. The
panel presentations were followed by questions
and answers, and thought-provoking discussion
from audience members. Audience members
included LGBTI community members of many ages,
representatives of aged care organisations, and
included Clive Elliot, Agency Coordinator of OneLife,
which funded the Living Proud project.
The panel members spoke from their long--and
impressive--experiences in first early and then later
LGBTI community organisations, in progressive
politics, in academia and in HIV prevention and
health promotion. They spoke to how professionally
and personally they have sustained mental wellness
and community connections while ageing; to what
they have seen our communities achieve in their
lifetimes; and what they urgently felt needs to be
done to challenge and reverse the marginalisation
of LGBTI older adults in our communities and more
broadly. GRAI Board Member June Lowe spoke as a
person in midlife witnessing and participating in a
rapidly developing community dialogue about ageing,
and how LGBTI older adults might take the lead on
advocating for changes in mental health and aged
cares services that will benefit all older adults.
Participants in this forum spoke with awareness of the
important changes that would accompany the 20th
December launch of the National LGBTI Ageing and
Aged Care Strategy. How to bring the same focus on
inclusion to the broad and decentralised array of older
adult mental health services (not only those focussed
on suicide prevention) was discussed as well. It was
noted, for example, while WA Health youth mental
health services are now requiring all staff to attend
seminars on working effectively with LGBTI clients,
Older Adult Mental Health has yet to take the same
steps, but is being influenced already by the National
Strategy.
The Ageing and Diversity forum was a successful
collaboration between older LGBTI community
members, GRAI, Gay and Lesbian Community
Services (GLCS)/Living Proud, and City of Vincent
staff--all committed to increasing inclusive services
for LGBTI older adults. And noteworthy in these new
collaborations, was joining dialogue at a local level in
the two key areas of mental health and aged care.
This forum raised additional issues, directly and
indirectly, that GRAI and other community groups
want to address in the next period. Hearing of
the depth of experience, expertise and continued
community commitments of the older community
members on the panel, forum participants were
struck by the strong contrast this presents to the often
minor roles older adults currently play in many LGBTI
community organisations.
Participants spoke to needing to make community
organisations more age-inclusive; speculated how
our organisational dynamics might be improved with
more older adult participation, and with broader
ranges of experience and perspectives; and considered
what our organisations lose by “retiring” some of most
experienced and capable community members.
These are issues GRAI hopes to continue to explore
and address in the period ahead.
www.grai.org.au
LGBTI Health Update | Vol. 3, no 3. April 2013 19
 LGBTI people ageing
outrageously well
By Sujay Kentlyn, Project Officer
Evergreen Life Care
We are very pleased to
announce the launch of a
new website and survey to
find out about ageing from
the point of view of LGBTI
people, and to help them
sustain independent, healthy
and active lives. Part of the
Outrageous Ageing LGBTI Elders’ Wellbeing project,
the survey asks LGBTI people about what health issues
most concern them, what information they need,
what activities they’d like to be involved in, and how
they would like to connect with other people like
themselves.
What is so exciting about this project is that it’s
positive. We get to move beyond identifying the
needs and concerns of LGBTI people as they get older,
and actually do something about them. Based on the
responses to the survey, we will develop programs and
activities that fit the needs, interests and lifestyles of
LGBTI older people in five regions of NSW: Northern
Rivers, Hunter, Central Coast, Blue Mountains, and
Sydney’s Inner West. We understand there will be
important differences between the groups, between
Trans women and gay men, for example, or between
urban dykes and rural dykes. There may also be
important regional variations – ageing in the Northern
Rivers may look quite different to the Blue Mountains.
LGBTI people over 50 who live in NSW are encouraged
to participate, especially those who live outside
Sydney. We particularly want to hear from Trans and
Intersex people, irrespective of their sexuality, and
from bisexual people. Frequently these groups are not
seen or heard, but they face important challenges with
ageing, and this project is for everyone.
20 LGBTI Health Update | Vol. 3, no 3 April 2013
We’re also very keen to make contact with LGBTI older
people who aren’t connected to LGBTI communities.
We know that social isolation can be a factor in the
poorer health outcomes experienced by this group.
So it’s important for everyone to circulate information
about the project through their networks and pass it
on to individuals they know.
The survey, developed in connection with Southern
Cross University, has been cleared by the University’s
Ethics Committee, and all survey responses will be kept
strictly confidential.
People can take part in the survey by going to:
www.outrageousageing.org.au/survey. Those without
internet access can get a paper version of the survey
with a reply-paid envelope by contacting me on
ph: 0488 035 500.
The Outrageous Ageing LGBTI Elders’ Wellbeing Project
is an initiative of Evergreen Life Care, a community-
based, not-for-profit aged care service provider based
in Gosford, and is funded by the Commonwealth
Department of Health and Ageing. Evergreen Life
Care’s Board has a dedicated LGBTI Sub-Committee
and has been very proactive in seeking to understand
and meet the needs of older LGBTI people.
We’ve had an outstanding response to the release of
the website and Facebook page so far, and we’re very
grateful for all the great feedback we’ve been getting
from around the world. Ageing is a fraught issue for
many LGBTI older folks, so lots of people are delighted
to see such a positive program getting under way. `
 Helping LGBTI people who are ageing
sustain independent, active and healthy lives.

www.outrageousageing.org.au
Please take our survey:
www.outrageousageing.org.au/survey
For more information:
Sujay Kentlyn
0488 035 500
sujay@outrageousageing.org.au

Coming Soon: Activities to help LGBTI

people age Outrageously Well!

Released: LGBTI Data Discussion paper

One of the six goals in the Federal Government’s National LGBTI
Ageing and Aged Care Strategy identifies that “LGBTI people, their
families and carers will be a priority for ageing and aged care
research”.

One of the biggest reasons Government doesn’t know as much about

the health and wellbeing of LGBTI people is that they simply don’t ask
the question in health questionnaires.

The Alliance discussion paper, released in February 2013 hopes to

open up a discussion amongst researchers and policy makers to
consider how best to increase the data on LGBTI populations.

You can download a copy of the discussion paper from:

www.lgbtihealth.org.au/data

LGBTI Health Update | Vol. 3, no 3. April 2013 21

 ‘Who will I be when I get
dementia?’ asked Mary
By Norman Radican, LGBTI Project Officer
Alzheimers Australia South Australia
Mary is a transwoman in her unique individual with the dignity and respect that she
early 70’s who was recently deserves or whether she will, as she has for much of
diagnosed with Alzheimer’s her life, be on the receiving end of the worker’s trans-
disease. Mary began her phobia, discrimination and possible abuse.
male to female transition
in her mid-forties, with her As her dementia continues to progress, Mary may
final reassignment surgery eventually need to move into a residential aged care
completed at age 48. She has facility, where her increasingly confused gender
identified and lived as a woman for more than 25 years. identity may present as being even more traumatic for
her in terms of her personal care.
As Mary’s dementia progresses, as her cognitive
capacity declines and as her Mary is just one example of the wide
recent memories regress, she
is most likely to retain the
‘Mary is just one variety of very real fears, issues and
concerns being expressed by LGBTI
memories of her life in her 20’s or example of the wide people when faced with entering the
30’s. At that time Mary identified
and lived as a man. She was a
variety of very real current aged care system.

husband and a father. As Mary’s
memory fades and she is left
with just the memories of her
earlier, male life, who will she
become, who will she be?
fears, issues and
concerns being
expressed by LGBTI
people when faced
To assist Mary, and all members of
the LGBTI communities, Alzheimer’s
Australia South Australia has
established the LGBTI Dementia
Program to provide training and

As Mary’s ability to look after

with entering the education for the staff of community
and residential dementia, ageing and
and care for her personal needs current aged care aged care services in relation to the
declines, she may initially be
required to access community
system.’ issues and concerns expressed by
LGBTI people.
aged care services. This means
that an absolute stranger, an Based on our previous work in the
unknown aged care worker, will LGBTI Community Dementia Project,
come into Mary’s house to assist her with cleaning, the new and expanded LGBTI Training Program,
showering, toileting and other personal tasks. funded by the Department of Health and Ageing, is
developing three (3) training modules, beginning with
How will this unknown worker, who brings their own Module 1, titled ‘the beginning of a conversation’.
values, attitudes and beliefs to Mary’s home, treat her
and react to Mary’s situation? At this point in time we The training modules have been able to utilise the
have no way of knowing if Mary will be treated as a information obtained from a needs analysis conducted

22 LGBTI Health Update | Vol. 3, no 3 April 2013

with LGBTI communities, as well as incorporating
national and international research.

AASA works with agencies requesting LGBTI diversity

training to conduct an audit of the organisation in
order to determine the LGBTI inclusiveness of their
work. We will then tailor the training to meet the
workforce education and policy development needs of
each agency.

For further information on the AASA LGBTI Program,

please contact:
Marie Alford, General Manager
marie.alford@alzheimers.org.au
Norman Radican, LGBTI Project Officer
norman.radican@alzheimers.org.au

Call for LGBTI Abstracts –

‘Grey Expectations: Ageing in the 21st Century’
Australian Association of Gerontology National Conference, November 2013

As part of the 46th National Conference of the Australian Association of Gerontology a call for LGBTI issues
has been put out as part of the conference’s ‘diversity’ stream.

Held in Sydney between 27-29 November, this year’s conference theme will be ‘Grey Expectations: Ageing
in the 21st Century’. As Australia adjusts to the new realities of an ageing population, this conference will
address some of the key questions this change raises for ageing in the 21st century:
• What can we expect of governments, corporations, the community, our families- and ourselves- as we
grow older in the 21st century?
• What can we learn from current biomedical, technological and social research about what to expect for
our health and quality of life?

Presentation types may be any of the following, all of which require an abstract/proposal to be submitted:
1. Presentation (15 minute oral presentation)
2. Symposia (Comprehensive review of a topic incorporating a number of speakers)
3. Poster Presentation

Submission deadline for Abstracts close on Friday 24 May 2013. You may find more details from
http://www.aag.asn.au/national-conference/call-for-abstracts

LGBTI Health Update | Vol. 3, no 3. April 2013 23

 Update on Healthy
Communities LGBT
Community Visiting Scheme
By Ann Matson
LGBT Seniors Community Visiting Service Project Officer
LGBT seniors in Brisbane are
taking to the country’s first
community visiting service
established to support
members of the LGBT
community facing isolation or
loneliness.
Since the first visits took place
in October last year, Healthy
Communities’ LGBT Seniors Community Visiting
Service has connected with almost 20 seniors.
The agency has also recruited and trained 24 volunteer
visitors from a pool of about 50 prospective volunteer
enquiries.
And as the service’s pilot year draws to a close
Healthy Communities hopes to build upon these solid
foundations.
Following launch of the Federal Government’s new
LGBTI Ageing and Aged Strategy in December, an
expanded Community Visitors Scheme (CVS) will see
the Department of Health and Ageing (DOHA) extend
grants to specifically include LGBTI people, their
families and carers in order to address social isolation.
According to Healthy Communities executive director
and convenor of its Ageing Action Group, Paul Martin,
the pilot program had been in peoples’ sights for
several years.
24 LGBTI Health Update | Vol. 3, no 3 April 2013
“We have been working steadily on a range of issues
concerned with providing services to LGBT seniors
which not only recognise their specific needs but also
the impact of years of discrimination or invisibility
many have lived through - and reaches out to assure
them that they are included and valued by service
providers,” Martin said.
The agency’s LGBT Community Visiting Service now
stands to continue developing - pending outcome of
its current funding application to the expanded DOHA
funding for its CVS scheme.
At the time of writing, applications have been sought,
with allocations due to be announced in the near
future for implementation from July 1 this year.
But although the pace and range of progress on
LGBT Ageing and Aged Care has been welcomed as
“exciting” and “groundbreaking” among LGBTI ageing
and aged care advocates, there is still room to tweak
criteria in the expanded CVS scheme to ensure that
those who might benefit most are not excluded, in
turn potentially averting or delaying the need for
costlier higher level care services.
“Feedback provided to DOHA in its consultations
around the Strategy has highlighted the importance of
preventative health measures and how this can reduce
the need for care packages. The visiting service is an
example of that,” Paul Martin said.
In the meantime here’s what some of the service’s
clients and volunteers have had to say about their
involvement:
Ivan – “Thanks for the Visiting Service. It’s good to have
somebody visiting apart from my carer and a family
member. I look forward to the visit, we chat and have
been out for walks, so I can recommend this to anyone
who is a bit hesitant.”
and have begun visiting. I think that I get as much out
of the experience as my client does. It’s a great way to
learn about others and share stories. It doesn’t really
take much of my time but makes a great difference to the
client who might only see their carer through their day
and I’m all the richer for the experience.”

Elaine – “I live alone and don’t get many gay visitors.

Actually there is usually only one person who visits, so I
get pretty lonely. With respect to the Visiting Service, my
volunteer and I have had a few visits now, all of which
have been really positive. I now know about certain
events held during the daytime, which I think will be a
good introduction to the community.”

Wendy – “I have wanted to so dome volunteer work for a

while and when I heard about the Seniors’ Visiting Service
being implemented by Healthy Communities I thought it
would be great to become involved in the community and
to give something back. I really enjoy listening to peoples’
life stories and even though we have only just started to
get to know one another my client and I have already had
some great discussions. It has been so easy to sit with a
cup of tea, chat and not realise how much time has gone
by!”

David – “I became involved as I had some time to

spare and thought it would be good to give back to my
community and help others. The Seniors’ Visiting Service
interested me and I went through the training process

LGBTI Health Update | Vol. 3, no 3. April 2013 25

 Do you need a speaker for your next event?
Consider asking Australia’s Ambassador for
Ageing: Ms Noeline Brown
If so you might want to consider asking the Australian Governments Ambassador
for Ageing to attend.

Noeline Brown has been the Ambassador for Ageing since 2008. Ms Brown’s role is
to positively promote respect for and the value of older Australians, and to promote
active and healthy ageing.

Ms Brown has participated in many events and activities across Australia increasing awareness and
facilitating access to information that may encourage seniors to adopt healthy and active lifestyles.
The Ambassador aims to break down the negative stereotypes associated with ageing and the older
community.

As Ambassador, Ms Brown also promotes the substantial and ongoing contribution older Australians make
while raising issues of interest and concerns to seniors.

The Ambassador works to positively promote respect for older Australians.

To arrange an interview or event with Ms Brown, please contact:

Toni McLennan, Public Affairs, Department of Health and Ageing, phone: 0402 674 457.

26 LGBTI Health Update | Vol. 3, no 3 April 2013

 Health in Difference 2013
Melbourne 18-20 April 2013
Our Bodies. Our Minds.
8th National LGBTI Health Conference
When: 1pm Thursday 18 April -
5pm Saturday 20 April 2013
Where: Novotel St. Kilda,
Melbourne, Australia.

www.lgbtihealth.org.au/hid
Ageing and Aged Care Stream
Health in Difference 2013 will present a major stream for delegates on the topic of Ageing and
Aged Care. Working with, and being inclusive of, older LGBTI Australians in an aged care setting is a
hot topic in 2013.

This stream will:

• Explore the historical responses to older LGBTI Australians, along with the responses now and
expectations in the future.
• Consider the implementation of the LGBTI Ageing and Aged Care Strategy
• Participate in a workshop about LGBTI inclusive practices for home care and community
services
• Provide an opportunity to hear from key researchers and policy leaders in the field with
practical examples drawn from local and national initiatives.
• Include discussion about how Australian communities are responding to the health needs of
older LGBTI people
• Offer practical insights about how you can contribute to building the capacity of your practice,
reasearch or organisation to engage with the diverse needs of LGBTI people

Click here for registration

LGBTI Health Update | Vol. 3, no 3. April 2013 27

 LGBTI Health Alliance News
Alliance website

Readers are encouraged to check the Alliance’s website on a regular basis. For example, the front page
includes a reference to recent submissions and papers. These include:

• LGBTI Data Paper

• Submission to the ABS on definitions of sex and gender

The website also includes a range of other information about the Alliance, such as a listing of organisational
Members, Board members and staff. Formal information such as the Annual Report is also found on the
website.

Senate Inquiry into involuntary or coerced sterilisation of people with disabilities in Australia

Gavi Ansara and Warren Talbot attend a Senate Committee inquiry into forced sterilisation of people with
disabilities, which had included intersex people in the brief. Oii and the Australian Androgen Insensitivity
Support Group of Australia (AISSGA) provided evidence to the Committee, as did Gavi Ansara on behalf of
the Alliance.

Gina Wilson (Oii), Morgan Carpenter (Oii), Gavi Ansara (Alliance), Sandra Perrin (AISSGA) and Tony Briffa (AISSGA)

Alliance Board meeting

The Alliance Board will be holding a face-to-face meeting in Sydney on 26 May. Major items for consideration
include review of Projects and related management needs, discussion concerning the Federal election, and a
proposed Policy Manual.

28 LGBTI Health Update | Vol. 3, no 3 April 2013

Information for Members and Friends
of the Alliance
Click here...
LGBTI Health Update
Vol 3, No 3, April 2013

Editor: Warren Talbot

Editorial Assistant / Design: Warren Summers
Guest Editor: Corey Irlam
The views expressed are those of the authors and not
necessarily those of the National LGBTI Health Alliance.
© National LGBTI Health Alliance
The Alliance gratefully acknowledges the assistance of
the Australian Department of Health and Ageing,
and the contributions of individual and organisational
Members.
Call for contributions
Members and friends are invited to share their
expertise and experience by making contributions
to the LGBTI Health Update in the form of news
stories or articles.
All items should be semi-formal in style and
concerned with LGBTI Health and Wellbeing and be
broadly relevant to the Australian context.

If you would like to make a contribution to the LGBTI

Health Update, please contact Warren Summers on
info@lgbtihealth.org.au.

National LGBTI Health Alliance Staff:

Gavi Ansara Warren Talbot
Health Policy Officer General Manager
gavi.ansara@lgbtihealth.org.au warren.talbot@lgbtihealth.org.au
ph: (02) 8568 1110 (02) 8568 1120

Andrew Little Barry Taylor

Project Officer (Health in Difference 2013) Senior Project Officer (Capacity Development)
projects@lgbtihealth.org.au [MindOUT!]
ph: (02) 8568 1126 barry.taylor@lgbtihealth.org.au
(02) 8568 1124
Belinda Marchesiello
Project Officer (Capacity Development) [MindOUT!]
belinda.marchesiello@lgbtihealth.org.au Please send general enquiries or requests to
ph: (02) 8568 1127 info@lgbtihealth.org.au

Warren Summers
Membership and Information Services Officer
info@lgbtihealth.org.au
(02) 8568 1119

LGBTI Health Update | Vol. 3, no 3. April 2013 29