This webinar discussed LGBTQI inclusion in our sector, the relevant issues, challenges, and how to implement best practice programs in the sector.
The panelists were:
1. Tina Dixson, co-founder of the Forcibly Displaced People Network.
Tina is a feminist academic and policy professional, who has worked in the areas of LGBTIQ, refugee and women’s rights. Tina has engaged with human rights bodies such as CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women), and helped develop the Global Compact on Refugees. She is co-founder of the Forcibly Displaced People Network, the first organisation in Australia to dedicate its work to the issues of LGBTIQ+ forced displacement and be driven by the lived experience of it.
2. Anthony Scerri, Manager of Settlement and Community Services – Advance Diversity Services. Leaders in the space;Advance Diversity Services has twice been chosen as a Gold Tier provider in the LGBTQ Inclusion Awards. Their work includes Pride in My Faith, a series of interviews with culturally and linguistically diverse LGBTIQA+ people who have embraced their queerness and faith in addition to a number of other initiatives which can be found on their website.
3. Ratu Jope (aka Jay) (They/Them) LGBTIQA+ Activist, Representative of STARTTS NSW
Jope, who often goes by Jay, is an LGBTIQA activist living in Australia seeking asylum. They want to be a loud voice for the LGBTIQA community and have been building on their activism over the past few years within Asia and the Pacific. Their favourite saying/quote is “Nothing about us, Without us”
4. Henrietta Podgorska, Communications and Community Engagement Manager, Umbrella Multicultural Community Care. Umbrella delivers innovative and culturally appropriate aged care services to over 800 seniors from 67 different countries. Umbrella has won multiple awards for their leading innovations in the delivery of responsive services to seniors from culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) and sexuality and gender diverse (LGBTI+) backgrounds.
