A lack of hard data on the rates of family, domestic and sexual violence in LGBTIQ+ relationships, means LGBTIQ+ people are at risk being forgotten in policy, planning, funding and new projects.
Violence in LGBTIQ+ relationships are as high and possibly higher than for the broader Australian population.
LGBTIQ+ Health Australia, the peak body for the health and wellbeing of LGBTIQ+ communities, has called for the implementation of the ABS Standard for Sex, Gender, Variations of Sex Characteristics and Sexual Orientation Variables, 2020, also known as the 2020 Standard, to better understand the disparities in LGBTIQ+ communities’ experience of family, domestic and sexual violence.
Call for the inclusion of funded targeted actions
LHA is also calling for the inclusion of funded targeted actions in the next National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children that specifically address violence experienced by LGBTIQ+ people, particularly relating to drivers of violence, the role of LGBTIQ+ community-controlled organisations, and monitoring and evaluation.
The Australian Institute for Health and Welfare’s (AIHW) infocus report released recently acknowledged that LGBTIQ+ communities were a key area in information gaps about populations most at risk of family, domestic and sexual violence, alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, older people, people who are pregnant, young people and children.
ABS Personal Safety Survey did not capture data on sexuality or gender
The report highlighted that the 2016 Australian Bureau of Statistics Personal Safety Survey did not capture data on sexuality or gender, and most national administrative collections that capture data on FDSV do not record sex and gender as separate concepts and do not collect data on sexual orientation.
The AIHW noted that where recommendations from the 2020 Standard are implemented, ‘…the collection and dissemination of relevant data will become consistent and provide valuable information about the risk of FDSV for LGBTQIA+ people’.
Zed Tintor Acting CEO of LGBTIQ+ Health Australia, said that we cannot address the disparities in the health and wellbeing of LGBTIQ+ Australians unless we have data to better understand them.
Organisations across the sector need insights
‘LHA echoes the AIHW recommendation to implement the 2020 Standard in the collection of information on family, domestic and sexual violence so we have a clearer picture on where thing stand,’ said Tintor. ‘Organisations across the sector need these valuable insights so that we can target resources and programs appropriately.
‘LHA again calls on the Federal Government to ensure the 2026 Census and other vital data collection efforts have the recommendations of the 2020 Standard implemented.’
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