- Published:
- Tuesday 17 May 2022
Regional and rural communities across Victoria will now have access to a landmark suite of resources to drive inclusion and equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender diverse, intersex, and queer (LGBTIQ+) Victorians.
Minister for Equality Martin Foley today marked the International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersex discrimination and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT) by releasing the Rainbow Ready Roadmap.
It gives regional communities access to a set of resources and guidance on how community groups, service-providers, organisations, sporting clubs, health services, schools and businesses can take steps to ensure all members of the community including LGBTIQ+ Victorians are respected.
From educating staff at council facilities about LGBTIQ+ communities, suggesting local businesses display pride materials or advising a school to host a pride day – the roadmap provides practical and easy support for how every sector of the community can make LGBTIQ+ community members feel welcomed.
The roadmap builds on the rural and regional LGBTIQ+ Roadshow and was developed following extensive consultation with LGBTIQ+ groups and people living in rural and regional communities, who called for practical tools for improving the lives of rainbow communities.
A series of in-person workshops will be held across regional and rural Victoria to promote and educate all community members about using the roadmap.
These resources will support ongoing efforts to tackle stigma and discrimination, with research showing the challenges LGBTIQ+ Victorians face can be heightened in some regional and rural areas, where there may also be more limited access to support services than in the city.
The roadmap builds on and supports existing work happening at a community level, such as the Geelong Cricket Pride Cup this summer which demonstrated local cricket clubs’ commitment to LGBTIQ+ inclusion.
The launch of the roadmap also aligns with the vision of state’s first long-term plan to drive LGBTIQ+ equality, Pride in our future, released in February – to ensure all Victorians feel safe, are healthy, have equal human rights and can live wholly and freely.
To access or learn more about the Rainbow Ready Roadmap, please visit vic.gov.au/rainbow-ready-roadmap.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Equality Martin Foley
“The Rainbow Ready Roadmap directly responds to calls from rural and regional Victorians for further support to drive LGBTIQ+ inclusion in their communities and is an important step in ensuring equality for all Victorians.”
“The roadmap provides a set or practical and simple measures any member of the community can make to ensure LGBTIQ+ Victorians feel welcome.
Quote attributable to Victorian Commissioner for LGBTIQ+ Communities Todd Fernando
“This is a set of practical tools we’ve developed working with LGBTIQ+ communities across to state to help organisations and businesses throughout rural and regional Victoria to further support inclusion.”