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We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we will come together,
the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, and pay our respect to their elders

Health in Difference is Australia's premier conference on the health and wellbeing of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, queer and other sexuality, sex and gender diverse (LGBTI*) people.

Registrations are now open!

While many LGBTI people live healthy, happy lives, as a population LGBTI people are known to have significantly poorer health outcomes than other Australians in several key areas, including mental health, suicide, general health ratings, alcohol and other drug use.

Health in Difference draws together community organisations, health practitioners, researchers, academics, policy makers, advocates, community members and others who are interested in improving the mental, phyisical and emotional health and wellbeing of LGBTI people.  The first Health in Difference conference was held in 1996, so we look back on a rich history.

The dead line for submitting proposals for presentations was Sunday 31st January 2010. As we are working to very tight time frames, unfortunately no late submissions can be considered.

To be put onto the conference mailing list, contact us

Themes

Health in Difference has the overarching theme and aim of "doing diversity", and will address a range of key health issues, such as mental health, ageing, alcohol and other drugs, violence, parenting, health service access and effective health promotion strategies. These topics will be considered under the banners of five core themes:

Social Inclusion, Exclusion and Resilience: A Social View of Health

Questions we would like to see addressed include

• How do homophobia, biphobia, transphobia and heterosexism impact on health and wellbeing? Why do many LGBTI people not only survive but live healthy and happy lives? What can the rest of the world learn from LGBTI people?
• How are human rights linked to health and health service provision? How does a human rights approach affect the paradigms that we work with?
• How can we improve access to quality health care for all sexuality, sex and gender diverse people? How can we take differences into account, such as generations, (dis)ability, location, language, culture, HIV status?

Indigenous Health and Wellbeing: Culture, Context and Colonisation

Questions we would like to see addressed include

• What can be learnt from Indigenous approaches to sexuality, sex and gender diversity?
• What factors impact on the health and wellbeing of Indigenous sexuality, sex and gender diverse people in different ways to other LGBTI communities?
• How can LGBTI communities and services be more inclusive of Indigenous people? How can Indigenous services be more inclusive of sexuality, sex and gender diverse people? What models work for Inidgenous LGBT people?

Sex and Gender Diversity: Differences Within Diversity

Questions we would like to see addressed include

• What are key health issues for trans and intersex people and others who don't conform to mainstream understandings of what it is to be male or female? What needs to change?
• How can the health system and the LGBTI community sector work with and for sex and gender diverse people?
• Given differences between issues relating to sex identity, gender identity and sexual orientation, how can and should LGBTI people work together?

Community: The Changing Nature of Our Relationships

Questions we would like to see addressed include

• How does the shifting and evolving nature of LGBTI communities impact of health and wellbeing? How does technology affect relationships? How do online communities relate to other communities?
• How do we support diverse families? What is the health impact of legislation regarding same-sex couples? What is the relationship between families of origin and LGBTI communities and how does this impact on health and wellbeing? What about reproductive health and rights?
• How do LGBTI people learn to live healthy relationships? How do homophobia, transphobia and biphobia impact on on LGBTI people relate to the "LGBTI community"? How do we respond to violence within LGBTI relationships and communities?

Politics, Evidence and Practice: Creating Change

Questions we would like to see addressed include

• How can policy agendas, such as the National Women's and Men's Health Policies, promote the wellbeing of sexuality, sex and gender diverse people?
• Does lobbying for improvement have to mean focussing on deficits? How can we balance a strengths-based approach with addressing the real negative health outcomes of many LGBTI people?
• What do we need to know about sexuality, sex and gender diversity? How do we gather knowledge in ways that provide the evidence policy development requires and accurately reflects the complex realities of LGBTI people?

We will be developing this website further and publishing more information about the conference over the next months.

If you would like to be put onto our Health in Difference conference mailing list, please contact us