Office of LGBTIQA+ Affairs

What we do

We are responsible for:

• giving advice to the ACT Government on issues that impact LGBTIQA+ communities
• leading and coordinating the Capital of Equality Strategy 2024-2029 to make Canberra the most welcoming and inclusive city in Australia for LGBTIQA+ people
• providing expertise and guidance to different parts of the government on LGBTIQA+ matters
• supporting the LGBTIQA+ Ministerial Advisory Council
• managing funding for local LGBTIQA+ peer-led groups and the annual SpringOUT Festival
• overseeing the Capital of Equality Grants Program.

About LGBTIQA+ communities in the ACT

We use the acronym ‘LGBTIQA+’ to include many identities and experiences, such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, queer, asexual, aromantic, transgender, agender, non-binary, and intersex people. We know that there is no single experience that represents what it means to be part of the LGBTIQA+ community. The terms we use help us talk about the community, but they can't capture the full range of individual identities and experiences. The ACT Government now uses ‘LGBTIQA+’ as the standard acronym. If you see a different version on this website, it’s because it reflects how it was used in the past.

Learn more about:

• how we're tracking achieving LGBTIQA+ equality in the ACT. Read the Capital of Equality Community Consultation Survey Analysis Report
• the health and wellbeing of LGBTQA+ young people in ACT as documented in Writing Themselves In 4
• the rich history of LGBTIQA+ people in our region from ACTing Out – Canberra's very queer history book.

For more information for LGBTIQA+ communities in ACT, see LGBTIQA+ communities.

Strategies and guidance

• The Capital of Equality Strategy 2024-2029 and its First Action Plan 2024-2026 guide the ACT Government’s efforts to make Canberra the most welcoming and inclusive city in Australia for LGBTIQA+ people.
• The ACT LGBTIQ+ Legal Audit of ACT legislation was completed in 2019 to find any laws that might discriminate against or harm LGBTIQ+ people. The final report lists areas where laws can be changed to remove discrimination and make the ACT a safer and more inclusive place for everyone.
• Capital of Equality Strategy 2019-2023 was the ACT Government’s first strategy for LGBTIQA+ inclusion and equality. Learn more.
• The Sex, Gender, Variations of Sex Characteristics and Sexual Orientation Common Dataset provides guidance to ACT Government agencies on how to collect this data.

Advisory councils and reference groups

• LGBTIQA+ Ministerial Advisory Council
• LGBTIQA+ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Project Design Community Advisory Group.

Strengthening LGBTIQA+ community organisations

Our core funding programs are designed to support and strengthen LGBTIQA+ community organisations in the ACT. Currently, we provide funding to the following organisations.

Meridian

We fund Meridian to:

• offer free counselling and mental health support for LGBTIQA+ people in Canberra
• deliver training for ACT Government and community organisations
• run the CBR Pride Hub, a safe meeting space for LGBTIQA+ communities, organisations, and services
• manage the LGBTIQA+ Service Users Reference Group and strengthen their organisational capacity.

Find out more about Meridian

A Gender Agenda

• provide peer support to people born with variations in sex characteristics
• run the Gender Pathways Peer Navigation Service for trans and gender diverse people, including supporting community events.

Find out more about A Gender Agenda

SpringOUT Association

We fund Canberra SpringOUT Association to deliver the SpringOUT Pride Festival, held every November.

Find out more about SpringOUT

Community grants

We run a competitive community grants program called the Capital of Equality Grants Program. It supports a range of projects that help make the ACT more inclusive and welcoming for LGBTIQA+ communities.

Find out about our funding to:

• promote connections for LGBTIQA+ people
• grow community organisations to better support LGBTIQA+ people
• develop LGBTIQA+ leaders.

Events and opportunities

• LGBTIQA+ Communities Roundtable: LGBTIQA+ communities are invited to talk about current issues and learn about the progress of the Capital of Equality Strategy. Sign up to our newsletter to be the first to receive the announcement.
• Free LGBTIQA+ awareness training for community organisations and ACT Government: Offered to a range of ACT Directorates and community organisations. This training is designed to offer practical tools to encourage a more inclusive and supportive workplace, and to inform policy development and service delivery. Contact us to learn more, email LGBTIQAOffice@act.gov.au

Law reforms

In the past few years, we have made several important law reforms:

• We banned sexuality and gender identity conversion practices in the ACT. Learn more about the law, available supports and the 2024 review.
• We passed the law to protect people with variations in sex characteristics from being harmed by inappropriate medical treatments and to support them to make their own decisions about medical treatments. Learn more.
• We made changes to the laws about births, deaths and marriage registrations to make it easier for young people under 18 to change their name and sex. Learn more.

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