We launched Victoria’s first whole-of-government LGBTIQA+ strategy in February 2022. The strategy is our plan to advance equality and inclusion for Victoria’s diverse LGBTIQA+ communities in all government work over the next decade.
Working with LGBTIQA+ Victorians is central to the success of the strategy. We do this by working with the LGBTIQA+ Ministerial Taskforce, Health and Wellbeing and Justice working groups, and through consultation with communities. This ensures the voices, wisdom and experiences of LGBTIQA+ people guide us as we co-design policy and programs to improve equality for all Victorians.
We are already making progress in our four priority areas:
- Priority area 1. Equal rights and freedoms
- Strengthening existing legal protections for LGBTIQA+ Victorians and ensuring we create laws with an equity lens will benefit all community members.
- Priority area 2. Equitable, inclusive and accessible services
- Services should be approachable, welcoming, safe and inclusive for all Victorians throughout their journey and when moving between services.
- Priority area 3. Visibility to inform decision-making
- Improving LGBTIQA+ data collection to build evidence will enable us to get a better picture of how LGBTIQA+ Victorians experience all parts of their lives.
- Priority area 4. Safe, strong and sustainable communities
- LGBTIQA+ people are a proud part of the Victorian community. By creating inclusive communities, we are making sure there is a place for all Victorians to be proud and live their life to the fullest.
Establishing our foundations
The strategy has a focus on ensuring services across Victoria are fair, inclusive and accessible to drive equality for LGBTIQA+ communities.
This is our first year reporting on the strategy’s progress and our first opportunity to share our achievements so far. This baseline will show us the gaps and opportunities so we can achieve more over time.
In the first year, we have taken significant steps to lay the foundations for an equal society. But, we recognise that there is more to do. And that we can only do that in partnership with allies, friends, families, communities and LGBTIQA+ Victorians. Equality is a shared vision that we are all responsible for creating and maintaining.
We have developed an outcomes framework that will evolve as we achieve strategy actions and as we improve our LGBTIQA+ data capture and analysis. We will report on the progress of key indicators in our annual reports in future years.
LGBTIQA+ voices are at the heart of our work. We will keep engaging with our communities over the life of the strategy to understand needs and the best ways to meet them.
A whole-of-government strategy
Every Victorian has a role in making Victoria a safe, welcoming place for all LGBTIQA+ people. The words 'our' and 'we' in this document refer to the Victorian Government. Many LGBTIQA+ Victorians, allies, families, communities, departments and portfolio areas contributed to the achievements of the first year of the strategy. Even though we know there is much more to do, this work shows a whole-of-government and whole-of-communities commitment to come together and advance equality.
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