Alarming statistics laying bare the social emotional wellbeing and mental health challenges facing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQA+ youth are driving a multi-partner program to provide them with greater support.
A first-of-its-kind national survey of 619 participants released in 2023 found that nearly half of respondents had attempted suicide in their lifetime, 19 per cent had attempted suicide in the past year and more than 90 per cent reported having high or very high levels of psychological distress.
Participants also reported having low feelings of connection to their spirit and ancestors, to Culture, and to an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQA+ community.
More promisingly, survey participants reported high levels of connection to family and kinship networks, generally good physical health, and feelings of belonging to distinct Aboriginal and LGBTQA+ communities.
The survey was part of the Walkern Katadjin national research project based The Kids Research Institute Australia to identify the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQA+ young people aged 14 – 15 years.
The three-part project has comprised yarning groups and in- depth interviews with youth around Western Australia as well as the national survey.
Lead author of the report on the survey results, Shakara Liddelow-Hunt, said the community had been talking for a very long time about concerns regarding young queer mob dying by suicide, having a hard time, being discriminated against, struggling to connect and having a place in community.
“We finally got this report out that confirmed they were right and now we have some evidence about young people’s strengths and needs that we can work with to take the next steps to fix this,” Mx Liddelow-Hunt said.
“We’re part of this broader movement, which has momentum from a lot of communities and organisations.”
Since the report’s release, Walkern Katatdjin team members have shared findings with services, clinical networks and policy networks. Findings have also been presented at conferences including the International Meeting on Indigenous Child Health in
Oklahoma and the Society for Mental Health Research in Perth, WA, which received the Best Consumer-Led Research award.
They were also published in Rainbow Realities, a federal government-commissioned report to inform the LGBTIQA+ Health and Wellbeing Action Plan.
Now, a roadmap is being developed after a workshop held in late 2023 with the project’s Youth Advisory Group, Governance Committee, Elders and service representatives.
“It’s been so important for us to work with community every step of the way, so this was an opportunity to come together to decide the action that needs to follow our survey findings,” Mx Liddelow-Hunt said.
Governance Committee member and social worker Tahlia Blow said one of her key takeaways from the Walkern Katatdjin project was seeing the resilience of young LGBTQA+ mob who participated.
“I look at some of what has come out and I admire so many of these young people who have given their time and thoughts to this project,” she said.
Next steps
- Development of training package for Aboriginal Community-Controlled Organisations to help them better support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQA+ young people
- Lobbying for Aboriginal representation on the federal government’s LGBTI+ Action Plan
- Completing co-design of an intergenerational yarning intervention to improve SEWB and mental health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQA+ young people