Thursday, 29 August 2024

Ministers statements: LGBTIQA+ community

Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for Housing, Minister for Water, Minister for Equality) (12:29): I rise today in my capacity as Minister for Equality. I am deeply saddened to share that today the Honourable Coroner Giles handed down her findings from the coronial investigation into the trans and gender-diverse suicide cluster following the loss of five young trans and gender-diverse Victorians in 2020 and 2021. I express my deepest condolences to the families and friends of those who lost their loved ones, and I acknowledge the pain and distress felt by the broader LGBTIQA+ community. Let me be really clear: being trans and gender diverse is not an inherent vulnerability or risk factor for suicidality; rather, repeated experiences of violence, discrimination and stigma contribute to tragedies such as these. Suicide prevention is everyone’s business, and it is incumbent upon everyone in this place to call out transphobia in all forms, including attempts to challenge the legitimacy of people’s inherent gender identities and the supports and services they may access. We know there are gaps in the understanding of contributing factors to mental ill health for primary care, community and specialist mental health supports that are accessed by the trans and gender-diverse community in Victoria.

The coroner has been clear, and I again reiterate the Victorian government’s unwavering support for data and what it enables us to understand about the needs and vulnerabilities of LGBTIQA+ people. Continuous improvement for our systems and service responses relies on the ability to capture appropriate data in order to continue work across government to improve whole-of-life outcomes for LGBTIQA+ people. Research from La Trobe University in 2020 revealed that 73.2 per cent of LGBTIQA+ people have considered suicide compared with 13.2 per cent of the general Australian population. The coroner’s report of 14 October 2022 also revealed that 208 LGBTIQA+ people died by suicide in Victoria between 2012 and 2021.

I would encourage anybody who needs support as a result of the coroner’s report from today to seek out and reach out for what is available to assist them.