By Danielle Kutchel
The City of Greater Dandenong has taken a decisive step in promoting a more inclusive city for LGBTQI residents.
At the council meeting Monday 9 December, Cr Matthew Kirwan, who has long championed a more inclusive approach to the LGBTQI community, moved a motion to support the recommendations made in a progress report highlighting actions the council can take to promote inclusion of the LGBTQI community.
The progress report recommended that the council publish an inclusion statement, host celebrations of LGBTQI events, advocate with health providers and peak health bodies to promote inclusion of LGBTQI-friendly services, implement programs to improve community understanding and inclusion of LGBTQI people, and continue to support the services of Greater Dandenong Libraries and Youth and Family Services, partners in the inclusion push.
The motion was carried, with Cr Dark abstaining.
The resolution represents a commitment by council to advocate on behalf of the often-marginalised community.
It follows the endorsement by the council of four recommendations to enable planning to improve recognition and inclusion of LGBTQI people in Greater Dandenong, on 22 October 2018.
The four recommendations provided to the council at the time were: that the council undertake community consultation to gain further understanding of community views; that the council include references to national, state and local support services for LGBTQI community on its website and related publications; that the council encourages LGBTQI community groups, or agencies supporting LGBTQI recognition, inclusion and community understanding, to apply for state-funded or local community grants; and that the council conduct an internal audit of council services using the GLHV inclusive practice audit tool or the Australian Workplace Equality Index Tool.
In the progress report updating councillors on the implementation of these earlier recommendations, it was revealed that some progress has been made.
In particular, a confidential consultation with Greater Dandenong residents who identify as LGBTQI, undertaken at the beginning of 2019, revealed that the community faces high rates of homophobia and transphobia.
The absence of a statement of inclusion and lack of targeted programs at the time, especially for older members of the LGBTQI community, were identified as making the community feel “excluded”, and victimisation increased after the marriage equality vote.
People from the transgender community reported feeling unable to self-identify and that their right to self-determination is not protected, often being mis-gendered or discriminated against.
“It is important for Council to recognise the specific concerns and needs of the LGBTIQ community to ensure services are accessible and inclusive,” the progress report concluded.
Cr Kirwan called December’s resolution “a good start” but said more action needed to be taken.
“What we need to quickly move to is a campaign to increase understanding in the broader community about our LGBTIQ community as there are misconceptions that lead to lack of acceptance and discrimination,” he said.
Greater Dandenong Council’s acting community services director Tilla Buden said in a statement that the implementation of the resolution had been discussed in the council’s internal LGBTQI working group.
“The LGBTIQ working group is planning an event on Sunday 17 May, IDAHOBIT day with the community.
“Future events will be planned in coordination with LGBTIQ residents in the community. Other events in the arts and culture space are also being planned to improve community understanding of the LGBTIQ community,” Ms Buden said.
