Take Care Outback There
The Take Care OutBack There Rural GLBTIQ Health and Wellbeing Forum aimed to provide a supportive environment for service providers and community members to discuss issues affecting the health and wellbeing of the GLBTIQ people in rural and regional communities within a holistic and human rights context.
The Forum was developed by Take Care OutBack There in partnership with the Country Awareness Network, (CAN), WayOut Rural Victorian Youth Sexual Diversity Project, CERSH and {ALSO}. It took place in Beechworth from the 2nd to 4th of September 2010, immediately prior to the Spring Migration Festival.
The forum aimed to support the needs of rural GLBTIQ communities through:
- networking and information sharing
- Presentation of papers and workshops
- Highlighting policy needs and best practise service provision
- Exploring challenges and the opportunities social connections within the rural GLBT community.
The objectives of the forum were to:
- Provide networking and information sharing opportunities that support the strengthening and sustainability of services that meet the needs of rural GLBTIQ communities
- Provide an opportunity for papers and workshops to be presented by those experienced in the GLBTIQ and/or rural sectors and showcase developments on the ground including current services available
- Provide an opportunity for rural service providers to increase their knowledge and understanding of the issues and needs of GLBTIQ communities
- Encourage the development of policies and adoption of best practise service provision to the GLBTIQ community
- Explore both the challenges and the opportunities for rural GLBTIQ people to increase social connections with each other and with the community as a whole.
The forum was attended by more than 100 people over three days including seasoned conference presenters and community members who had never attended anything like it before. The range of participants included GLBTIQ members of the rural community, Same Sex Attracted young people (SSAYP), students, health providers and community service providers. Sponsorships were made available with funding from CERSH and 51 were taken up to some degree by both professionals and GLBTIQ community members. There was a Professional Development Health Stream coordinated and managed by CERSH on the Friday which included issues specific to the GLBTIQ community (with a focus on prevention of STIs) for health professionals. The other streams were under the broad headings of Staying Well, Staying Safe and Staying Connected. Evaluation of the forum showed that it was very well received across the board and participants wanted further forums. A highly successful Community Cafe was held on the Saturday morning and the good, the bad, and the ugly was discussed. Results from this strategy go towards the development of a Forum Action Plan by the project partners, CERSH, CAN, Wayout and {ALSO}.
Of note, the days of this forum were met with some of the worst weather seen since the 1993 floods in northeast Victoria. Howling winds, driving rain, trees uprooted, flash flooding and road closures were some of the challenges faced by participants. The conditions made it very difficult, dangerous and impossible to travel. If participants were not registered and stayed for the 3 days, they would almost all have not been able to attend.
Web LinK: http://www.takecare.org.au/TakeCare/