An Analysis of Social Service Provisions for the LGBTIQ Community

This essay examines the social services available to the LGBTIQ community in Australia, focusing on the violence and discrimination they face. It explores various support systems, including helplines, counseling services, and legal aid organizations like 1800 Respect, Diverse Voices, QLife, Wesley Mission Queensland, LGBTI Legal Service, National LGBTI Health Alliance, Open Doors Youth Service, Headspace, and the Queensland Police Service LGBTIQ Liason Program. The essay highlights the Australian government's commitment to protecting the rights of the LGBTIQ community, addressing issues like domestic violence, mental health, and legal matters. It also discusses the barriers the community faces in accessing these services, such as fear of discrimination and lack of information, and emphasizes the need for increased awareness and outreach. The essay concludes by underscoring the importance of providing comprehensive support and fostering an inclusive society where the LGBTIQ community can live free from violence and prejudice. The UN Women and DV Connect are also mentioned as key organizations. The essay uses several research papers as references.

Running head: SOCIAL SERVICE FOR VIOLENCE INFLICTED LGBTIQ COMMUNITY
Social service for violence inflicted LGBTIQ Community
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

1SOCIAL SERVICE FOR VIOLENCE INFLICTED LGBTIQ COMMUNITY
Introduction:
The LGBTIQ community in Australia literally stands for the people who consider
themselves to be Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender or Transsexual, Intersex and queer/
questioning. These people had been termed as homosexual which used to have negative
connotations. Since this community is secluded from the mainstream society, they are still
considered and looked upon as the minority others. However, in Australia, the people have
started to understand that every individual’s sexuality is different and it needs to be respected.
Violence over the LGBTIQ people in any form, be it domestic, family or intimate partner
violence is unjust and the Australian government is against any such kind of treatment. Thus
there have been several support groups and social service platforms that come to the aid of this
community and help them in their need.
Discussion:
The LGBTIQ community often face the similar kind of violence as the other people who
are not identified as the same. The violence is more focused over the person’s gender, their
sexuality or identity or even their status. As per the discussion of Nash & Gorman-Murray
(2014), they face ill treatments from the family, friends, the community, the patriarchy or even
their intimate partners. Some of them include, forced isolation from the larger LGBTIQ
community, scoffing at their sexuality traits, portraying violence as a form of masculinity, or
even forcing the person to have unsafe sex. Rape and threatening the weaker sections of the
community to be infected with chronic illness are also common types of violence that the
LGBTIQ community have to face (Allen & Roberto, 2016).

2SOCIAL SERVICE FOR VIOLENCE INFLICTED LGBTIQ COMMUNITY
According to Hughes (2016), studies have proved that more than one third of the
LGBTIQ people in Australia are the victims of domestic violence and specially are abused by
their partners. Even though the people face violence, only 20 percent of the cases area reported.
The Australian Government is against any such illegal discrimination and tries hard to fight for
the equal rights of this homophile community. They believe that every individual has their right
to choose their own identity and anyone who is threatened of the same can ask for support or
help. This increased violence has given rise to several support groups who help the LGBTIQ
community to come out in the open and seek support.
The prime support that this community needs is to be provided with the correct
information regarding their condition and the health issues. “AGON” and “Another Closet” are
such services that offers information regarding the health problems free of cost (Hughes, 2016).
Their website offers a directory where the LGBTIQ people can reach out for support regarding
the domestic violence. In addition to this, there are helpline numbers in which the victims can
make a call and speak up about their problems and the violence (Skerret, Kolves & De Leo,
2015). 1800 Respect is a helpline social service that understand the domestic violence that the
people belonging to the LGBTIQ community face. Moreover, a nonprofit organization called
“Diverse Voices” is present in Queensland, Australia that aim at the well being of the LGBT
people. They had earlier been known as the “Gay and Lesbian Welfare Association Queensland”.
The sufferers can reach out to their counseling service called “QLife” and also can chat online
about their mental health problems or their relationships and domestic ill-treatment ( Hughes &
Cartwright, 2014).
The Wesley Mission Queensland offers a program named Expanded Horizons Program
which is aimed at providing support to the young people belonging to the age group of 12 to 25

3SOCIAL SERVICE FOR VIOLENCE INFLICTED LGBTIQ COMMUNITY
years of the LGBTIQ community (Byron, et.al., 2017). This program also involves a 24X7
helpline service where the victims can call up and discuss their problems. In accordance with this
the LGBTI Legal Service in Australia provides legal help to the sufferers. They provide
information regarding the legal rights and the laws and also makes them feel comfortable to fight
for their own identity and their issues. According to O’Halloran (2015), they assist the clients
with the family laws, the domestic violence or any sort of parental or criminal laws and
discrimination. There are other help services also such as the “National LGBTI Health Alliance”
which provides health related services to the people who suffer from any sort of mental or sexual
violence within the families as well as in the society. “Open Doors Youth Service” provide
similar sort of support services to the young girls and the boys who remain isolated from the
LGBTIQ community due to the domestic violence (Waling & Roffee, 2018). The “Headscape:,
run by the National Youth Mental Health Foundation, is successful in providing support to the
people who suffer from mental torture and are victims of depression and stress due to the family
violence. The people who are the victims can also take help from the “Queensland Police Service
LGBTIQ Liason Program”, who provides assistance to the complaints lodged regarding legal or
police matters. They also have a police helpline number that helps to identify the police liaisons
in the area (Pienaar et.al., 2018).
In accordance to this, there are also several organizations such as the “Say It Loud”,
which provides motivation and encouragement to the people belonging to this community to say
their problems out loud, promising them to keep their stories confidential. They try to improve
their behavior and also help them to respect their own identity. According to Waling & Roffee
(2018), the United Nations Women stands in support to this LGBTIQ community and ensures
that they receive all the justice and protection from any kind of violence and domestic issues that

4SOCIAL SERVICE FOR VIOLENCE INFLICTED LGBTIQ COMMUNITY
they face. Gender equality is something that this organization aims to promote. The UN Women
in Australia helps the Government to find out the gaps that still exist among this community , be
it in the socio economic forum or in cases of homosexuality and discrimination (Gorman-Murray
et.al., 2017). They provide help and support to the people by informing them about the laws that
they are entitled to, by giving them the knowledge of the rights and the unjust violation of their
rights to which they can raise a voice against. Thus they stand for the LGBTIQ community so
that they can live without any fear, as individuals, free from any sort of violence and
homophobia. Also the “DV Connect” is a 24 hour Domestic Violence helpline that assures safety
to the LGBTIQ community of Australia. They have the option of receiving a donation from the
people, so that they can help the people who experience any kind of sexual or domestic violence
(Skerret, Kolves & De Leo, 2015). They let the people know that the domestic violence is not the
fault of the person who is a victim of it. It is something that implies misuse of power and control,
and inflicting upon the persons who have the ability to bear the pain. Thus this helpline number
allows the people, to share their problems and make them empowered so that they can come out
of their confined shells (Hughes, 2016).
However, according to Nash & Gorman-Murray (2014), even with the presence of these
support groups and services, the LGBTIQ community face several barriers and hesitate to obtain
the services for their family violence. They often tend to blame themselves and their sexual
identity for the illegal behavior that they have to face. Also there is a fear of homophobia or
transphobia among this community and they fear to speak out. they feel that confidentiality is the
only solution to avoid the discrimination. This happens because of the lack of proper information
and support. The fear of being heard and judged is the main barrier of the LGBTIQ community
in seeking support and this is the prime reason that most of the cases are not being reported to the

5SOCIAL SERVICE FOR VIOLENCE INFLICTED LGBTIQ COMMUNITY
police (Allen & Roberto, 2016). They need to be more outspoken and should be provided with
sufficient information as to where to get help from. The support groups and the social service
platforms need to reach out to this community more if they do not have to courage to speak out.
Conclusion:
Thus from the above discussion it can be concluded that the LGBTIQ community people
have the same and equal rights as the other people of the society who classify themselves as male
or females. People have their own choice of sexual identity and the Australian Government has
come out in the open to respect this. They provide several services and support groups who help
the people of the LGBTIQ community to report complains and speak up about their problems
and their sufferings. They provide online chat services and the nonprofit organizations have
counseling services which help the victims to talk about the unjust violence that they are facing.
The most important aspect is providing them with sufficient information and help which the
Government of Australia is trying their best. Respecting them and making them a part of the
society has been the first step towards providing them support and the entire world should be
working towards this.

6SOCIAL SERVICE FOR VIOLENCE INFLICTED LGBTIQ COMMUNITY
Reference:
Allen, K. R., & Roberto, K. A. (2016). Family relationships of older LGBT adults. In Handbook
of LGBT elders (pp. 43-64). Springer, Cham. Available at :
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-03623-6_3
5 key points of the article are:
 Intersection of social structure and personal experience
 Policies impacting their lives
 Aging of LGBT people, affecting their family dynamics
 Interaction of family and gender
 Historical treatment of the LGBT individuals.
Byron, P., Rasmussen, S., Wright Toussaint, D., Lobo, R., Robinson, K. H., & Paradise, B.
(2017). ‘You learn from each other’: LGBTIQ Young People’s Mental Health Help-
seeking and the RAD Australia Online Directory. Available at:
https://researchdirect.westernsydney.edu.au/islandora/object/uws:38815/
Gorman-Murray, A., Morris, S., Keppel, J., McKinnon, S., & Dominey-Howes, D. (2017).
Problems and possibilities on the margins: LGBT experiences in the 2011 Queensland
floods. Gender, Place & Culture, 24(1), 37-51. Available at :
https://129.78.139.15/handle/10765/159504
Hughes, M. (2016). Providing responsive services to LGBT* individuals with dementia.
In Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans* Individuals Living with Dementia (pp. 103-116).
Routledge. Available at:

7SOCIAL SERVICE FOR VIOLENCE INFLICTED LGBTIQ COMMUNITY
https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781315732718/chapters/10.4324/978131573271
8-18
Hughes, M., & Cartwright, C. (2014). LGBT people's knowledge of and preparedness to discuss
end‐of‐life care planning options. Health & social care in the community, 22(5), 545-552.
Available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/hsc.12113
Nash, C. J., & Gorman‐Murray, A. (2014). LGBT neighbourhoods and ‘new mobilities’:
Towards understanding transformations in sexual and gendered urban
landscapes. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 38(3), 756-772.
Available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1468-2427.12104
O'HALLORAN, K. (2015). Family violence in an LGBTIQ context. Available at:
https://minerva-access.unimelb.edu.au/handle/11343/123211
Pienaar, K., Murphy, D. A., Race, K., & Lea, T. (2018). Problematising LGBTIQ drug use,
governing sexuality and gender: A critical analysis of LGBTIQ health policy in
Australia. International Journal of Drug Policy, 55, 187-194. Available at:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0955395918300082
Skerrett, D. M., Kõlves, K., & De Leo, D. (2015). Are LGBT populations at a higher risk for
suicidal behaviors in Australia? Research findings and implications. Journal of
Homosexuality, 62(7), 883-901. Available at:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00918369.2014.1003009

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Waling, A., & Roffee, J. A. (2018). Supporting LGBTIQ+ students in higher education in
Australia: Diversity, inclusion and visibility. Health Education Journal, 77(6), 667-679.
Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0017896918762233