LGBTIQ+ health and wellbeing
ARCSHS houses Australia’s largest research program focused on LGBTIQ+ health and wellbeing.
We cover a wide range of research subjects, including:
- mental health
- substance use
- family, domestic and sexual violence
- health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTIQ+ people
- disability
- older people
- spirituality and spiritual care
- suicide prevention
We work in meaningful partnership with LGBTIQ+ community organisations and stakeholders to maximise our impact. We are also responsible for two of the biggest national surveys on LGBTIQ+ health and wellbeing including:
- Private Lives: exploring the health and wellbeing of adult LGBTIQ+ people
- Writing Themselves In: examining the health and wellbeing of LGBTIQ+ young people.
Our projects include:
- Private Lives 3 - A study of the health and wellbeing of LGBTIQ+ adults in Australia
- Writing Themselves In 4 - A study of the health and wellbeing of LGBTQA+ youth in Australia
- Pride in our Work - LGBTQ inclusion in residential aged care
- QSOX - Cultural practices of alcohol use, vaping and smoking among lesbian, bisexual and queer women
- Futures of Substance - Exploring LGBTIQ+ people's determinations of ‘problematic’ use
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQA+ people - a series of factsheets exploring data from PL3, WTI4 and Trans Pathways
- LGBTQA+ people with disability
- Interconnect health research - Developing co-designed, integrated, person-centred models of care to improve the health of people with innate variations of sex characteristics
- LGBTQA+ mental health and suicidality - a suite of state-based briefing papers based on data from PL3, WTI4 and Pride and Pandemic
- Crossing Lines - A study investigating unwanted sexual behaviours against LGBTQ+ people, aiming to generate actionable knowledge and focussing on the social forces, risk factors, and characteristics of those who use sexual violence
- Accessible PrIDe - Building capacity of LGBTQ+ and disability sectors to practice inclusively with LGBTQ+ people with intellectual disability
- Pride and Pandemic - The health impacts of COVID-19 on LGBTQ communities
- Rainbow Ageing - Health and social wellbeing of older LGBT people in Australia
- Previous iterations of Private Lives
- Previous iterations of Writing Themselves In
- Rainbow Realities - In-depth analyses of large-scale LGBTQA+ health and wellbeing data in Australia
- Optimise+ - Strengthening LGBTQ+ community-controlled mental health and AOD services
- How2 training evaluation - a feasibility and efficacy evaluation of Rainbow Health Australia’s (RHA) How2 training program
- Sexual minority stressors - New knowledge on internalised prejudice for same-sex attracted Australians
- Catalysts of Change - Interventions and service pathways for gay, bisexual, trans and queer (GBTQ) men who have used family violence in Victoria, Australia
- The religious experiences of LGBTQA+ Australians - a population survey of experiences of religious and non-religious LGBTQA+ adults
- Lean on Me - Peer support for mental health among LGBTQ adults in Melbourne
- Opening Doors - Ensuring LGBTIQ-inclusive family, domestic and sexual violence services
- Responsive Pandemic Practice - LGBTIQ+ family violence service innovation in Victoria during COVID-19
- LGBTI+ Lives in Crisis - Mental health crisis support for LGBTIQA+ adults
Beyond deficit thinking: Strengths-based approaches to LGBTQ+ research & practice
Hear about the latest research from researchers at The Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society (ARCSHS) on topics such as sex and consent and trans health and wellbeing. This work showcases strengths-based approaches to LGBTQ+ research, moving beyond deficit models to highlight resilience, affirmation, and community strengths.
Discover how this research is being translated into actionable gender-based violence prevention, practice and training frameworks with the expertise of Rainbow Health Australia, bridging the gap between evidence and impactful change.
We are also thrilled to have guest keynote speaker Assistant Professor J.J. Wright from MacEwan University in Canada, sharing insights from their Queer Sexual Joy Project that investigates queer, trans, and Two Spirit joy as resistance to rising anti-2SLGBTQ+ hate and gender-based violence in Canada.