National LGBTQIA+ Survey Opens With Focus On Health, Discrimination, And Safety

Australia’s longest-running national survey of LGBTIQA+ health and wellbeing has opened, with researchers calling on adults across the country to take part in the latest edition of the Private Lives survey.

Private Lives 4 is being led by the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society at La Trobe University and is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. The survey is open to LGBTQIA+ people aged 18 years and over living in Australia and will remain open until July 1.

The survey will collect information on a range of topics including health and wellbeing, discrimination, healthcare access, employment, relationships, ageing, substance use, safety, and community connection.

“It’s been running in various iterations since the early 2000s,” explains project lead Dr Ruby Grant. “When it first began, it was doing some early work to help us to understand the needs of LGBTQIA+ people in Australia, because at that point there was really very little research at this community level about our experiences and needs, and this data is really important to inform the actions that governments and services take for our communities.”

Dr Grant explains that the survey represents a huge knowledge base that they’ve ben able to amass over nearly time years, with the survey and its impact growing over time.

“The last time the survey was run in 2019, we had nearly 7,000 people completing the survey, all around the country. And the findings are still used today. Whenever governments or services will cite big statistics about queer people in Australia, chances are it’s from this survey, especially in the absence of data from places like the census that haven’t collected much about our communities until recently.”

According to the project team, the findings will support implementation of the National Action Plan for the Health and Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025–2035, along with future policy development, advocacy, service planning and community-led initiatives.

“The data from the last Private Lives survey,  which was conducted in 2019, helped to directly inform the Federal Governments current National Action Plan for the Health and Wellbeing of LGBTQIA+ people, so it’s really exciting. This document has a really significant role in informing government services, but also other organisations, how they condition services and things like that. It shapes the strategies in a state and then local government level as well.”

Dr Ruby Grant said community participation would strengthen the data collected through the study.

“The more people who take part, the stronger the evidence will be. Every response helps build a clearer picture of LGBTIQA+ health and wellbeing in Australia, and supports better policy, better services, and stronger communities,” said Dr Grant.

Private Lives has been documenting the experiences, health needs and wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ people in Australia for more than 20 years. The evidence gathered through the project is important because many LGBTIQA+ people are not included in mainstream data collection.

The findings from Private Lives 4 will contribute to national reports, policy briefings, academic publications, community resources and evidence for governments, health services, community organisations and advocacy groups.

The project team is also encouraging LGBTIQA+ organisations, local councils, health services and community groups to promote the survey through social media, newsletters, events and professional networks.

“I think the fact that the survey is happening now has a really important role given some of the challenges our communities are now facing. The world has changed a lot unfortunately for the worse in some ways and so it remains important to make sure we capture this data about our communities so we can continue advocating for our rights.”

The Private Lives 4 survey can be accessed here.