TransHub
I’m excited to inform you TransHub, a new and exciting digital information and resource platform, was launched 31/03/2020 on Transgender Day of Visibility! This resource is for all trans and gender diverse (TGD) people in NSW, their loved ones, allies and health providers.
During the development process of our Blueprint for Improving the Health and Wellbeing of Trans and Gender Diverse People in NSW, ACON consulted with the trans community across NSW, and the concerns were consistent and very clear. Trans people experience harm when they can’t access appropriate information, particularly in relation to gender affirmation and health.
Central to TransHub is person-centred, human rights focused information about social, medical and legal gender affirmation. Visitors can find information on a diverse range of issues experienced by the trans community, such as coming out, understanding dysphoria, finding a doctor, navigating government agencies like Centrelink and the ATO, updating gender markers on birth certificates, and much more.
The online platform includes comprehensive and inclusive information to support the health of trans people, including about sexual and reproductive health, mental health, cancer screening, substance use, domestic violence and sexual assault.
TransHub’s allies section provides information to partners, friends, employers, researchers, educators and colleagues, and the clinicians section addresses creating welcoming environments, gender affirming hormones, surgical interventions and providing patient-centred care. The site also includes a comprehensive language guide, and a portal for community members and clinicians to centrally access the resources available throughout the website. There is also a COVID-19/CORONAVIRUS page with regular updated information specific for the TGD community.
This platform has been built, written, and designed by trans people, for trans people. The team also partnered with a number of leading specialist organisations, clinicians and allies to ensure TransHub is accurate, evidence-based and accessible for those who will benefit from using it.
Hear from Teddy Cook – ACON’s Manager for Trans & Gender Diverse Health Equity, Jain Moralee – Co-Executive Director of Twenty10, Keryn and Meagan – Co-founders of Parents of Gender Diverse Children and Dr Atari Metcalf – ACON Board Director in the attached media release on why TransHub is so important for TGD people. We love TransHub, and we hope you do to.
Refugee Council
I am sending you this email from my living room, where like many of you, I have set up a temporary office while my children run around, bored, getting on each other’s nerves and wanting to be outside.
It is an unprecedented moment in our world’s history. We will never forget it. Yet while we are all facing our own challenges and hardships, I wanted to email you to ask you to help us lobby the government to ensure it is supporting everyone affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Not just those lucky enough to have Australian citizenship.
There are tens of thousands of people seeking asylum and refugees in Australia and in offshore detention centres who are facing extreme need and are incredibly vulnerable to the COVID-19 virus. While the support packages announced to date by the Morrison government are welcome news for many, they have left out many people who will be affected by this pandemic.
The Australian Health Department has identified people in detention facilities as one of six highly vulnerable groups in the face of COVID-19. Additionally, many people living and working in the community are experiencing the full brunt of this crisis – losing work, experiencing destitution and for some, lacking access to proper medical treatment.
The situation for many is untenable, and while many people are trying incredibly hard to make ends meet, they cannot do the impossible. Like many in our society, people seeking asylum and refugees in Australia need additional support at this time of crisis.
Not only is this the just thing to do, it also makes sense. With a public health emergency unfolding, we are all benefited by people having an income, housing and medical support. It is particularly outrageous that some people don’t even have access to Medicare at this critical time. This is a risk to us all. We cannot leave people behind.
We know that if enough of us express these concerns to key government representatives that we could achieve an amazing outcome. There have already been hints by the government that it is considering extending support to migrants and refugees.
Can you take 2 minutes to write to your local MP?
The Refugee Council of Australia has consulted widely with its members and we are now urging the government to take five key actions to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. We have included these in the email you can send your MP. We are calling on the government to:
- Move people urgently out of crowded immigration detention facilities
- Ensure a financial safety net and Medicare access for people seeking asylum and refugees in Australia
- Prevent people losing legal status and access to support
- Move refugees and people seeking asylum from PNG and Nauru
- Ensure that refugees on temporary SHEV visas are not penalised in light of the COVID-19 pandemic
Help us ensure people seeking asylum and refugees are supported at this critical time. Contact your local MP today!
