Minus18 get incorporated

Victorian youth support group for same-sex attracted and transgender (SSAT) young people Minus18 has held its first ever annual general meeting.

Now with a 13-person-strong board, chair James Campbell said the move was the first step to improving Minus18’s work assisting queer young people.

“We recognise the critical need for strong organisations dedicated to supporting and advocating for the health and wellbeing of same-sex attracted and transgender (SSAT) youth,” Campbell told the Star Observer.

“We are committed to bringing these needs to light in the public sphere to improve the wellbeing of these young people.”

The move will see the organisation become financially independent and shift away from its reliance on the ALSO Foundation.

Under the group’s new rules, just over half of the board must also be made up of people under 26 years. Campbell said the organisation will still very much be run by young people.

“The primary decisions and genesis of ideas will still come from within the youth committee of young volunteers,” he said.

“The board is about providing mentorship and direction to young people and for the organisation as a whole. We are incredibly excited about the opportunities our incorporation will provide for us as an organisation and for the continued promotion of SSAT mental health both within the GLBTIQ community and beyond.”