Newly formed LGBTQIA+ rights organisation Rainbow Futures WA (RFWA) have shared the findings of an online survey they conducted in the lead up to WA’s state election sharing that the results highlight how improvements need to be made to most government services.
The majority of all respondents said all government services need to do better when dealing with LGBTQIA+ people, but police, aged care and education topped the list of services most in need of improvement.
Organisers say the results are an “urgent wake-up call” to whichever party will form government after the state election.
In partnership with Equality Australia, RFWA conducted an online survey to gauge community views on a range of potential legal reforms and services for WA LGBTQIA+ people.
Aged care and related services were most concerning to respondents, with 51.1% rating them as requiring a lot of improvement.
In almost equal second place were police and legal (48.9%) and education – early childhood, primary and secondary (48.5%). Furthermore, important legal reforms have stalled in the Legislative Council, leaving WA lagging behind the eastern states on LGBTIQA+ rights.
“These results are a clear wake-up call. Government agencies are struggling to meet the needs of sexual / gender diverse and intersex clientele in the absence of an overall plan,” RFWA spokesperson Paul Benson said.
“Most worrying is that the services rated as most in need of improvement are ones most likely to be dealing with vulnerable LGBTQIA+ people, or people in crisis.”
“We know from bitter experience the way the world works for people like us: if you’re not expressly included, you’re excluded. LGBTQIA+ people are falling through the cracks caused by a disparate and piecemeal approach to our community’s needs.”
Rainbow Futures WA has written to the leaders of all political parties in the state parliament asking for their support for a whole-of-government LGBTQIA+ strategy.
The survey was completed by 322 participants, 94 per cent of participants were current WA residents. The majority of participants, 88.2 per cent, described themselves as members of the LGBTQIA+ communities, while others described themselves as a relative, friend or ally of someone in the queer community.
OIP Staff
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