Private Lives 4
LGBTIQA+ health and wellbeing survey opens April!
Are you LGBTIQA+, aged 18+ and living in Australia? Your voice is important - stand up and be counted!
The fourth in the Private Lives series, Australia's largest surveys of the health and wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ adults.
2025-2027
About the project
Private Lives 4 is Australia’s largest national survey of the health and wellbeing of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, and asexual (LGBTIQA+) adults to date. It is conducted by the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society (ARCSHS) at La Trobe University. The survey will provide vital information for health professionals, service providers, community organisations and governments to better understand and support the health and wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ people in Australia.
Funded by the Department of Health and Aged Care, Private Lives 4 - alongside our youth survey, In Our Words - will contribute critical data to support the implementation of the National Action Plan for the Health and Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025–2035.
Who can do the survey?
You can take part in Private Lives 4 if you are:
- Aged 18+ (if you are under 18, you can take part in our youth survey, In Our Words. If you are aged 18-21, please fill in both!)
- Currently living in Australia
- Are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, non-binary, queer, asexual, or use other words to describe diverse sexuality or gender identities; and/or were born with an innate variation of sex characteristics (some people call this intersex).
What will you ask me?
Private Lives 4 is a major survey about LGBTIQA+ health and wellbeing. It has questions about identity, mental health, physical health and health service access, families, relationships, and LGBTIQA-community connections. It also covers some tricky topics like suicide, family, intimate partner and sexual violence, alcohol and other drug use, and discrimination.
To capture the diversity of our communities, the survey also has special sets of questions designed for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, trans and gender diverse people, people with innate variations of sex characteristics, and people with disabilities. These questions have been designed by members of these communities.
The survey aims to capture the health and wellbeing experiences of LGBTIQA+ adults in Australia to help make services and policies best meet the needs of LGBTIQA+ people.
What are the benefits?
Your responses will help to inform the work of policy makers, LGBTIQA+ service providers, health professionals and many others who seek to protect and improve the health and well-being of LGBTIQA+ people in Australia.
Last time we ran the Private Lives survey, the results led to real change all across the country. Results from this survey will inform State and Federal Government policies and shape service provision for LGBTIQA+ people nationally. You can see some of the outcomes from our last survey on the Private Lives 3 page.
What are the risks?
Private Lives 4 is an anonymous, online survey that is optional to complete. Your data will be kept secure and no one will know if you have done the survey.
The survey includes some content that may be upsetting to recall, like questions about mental health, suicide, discrimination, and violence. You can skip these questions if you want to, and you can stop at any time.
If you would like to seek support for any reason, please contact the following services:
- QLife: LGBTIQ mental health support, information and referrals through phone counselling or webchat – Ph: 1800 184 527
- Lifeline: Crisis Support – Ph: 13 11 14
- Headspace: Online and phone support. Information and resources on mental health and LGBTIQ+SB people
- BeyondBlue: Mental Wellbeing – Ph: 1300 224 636
- Kids Helpline: Online and phone support and information for young people, 5-25 years – Ph: 1800 55 1800
- 13YARN: Information and support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in all states and territories – Ph: 13 92 76
- Yarning Safe’n’Strong: Counselling services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people – Ph: 1800 959 563
- Brother to Brother: Phone support line for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men – PH: 1800 435 799
You can read more details about the study, or if you have questions, contact the Private Lives 4 team at private.lives@latrobe.edu.au
Researchers
Ruby Grant, Natalie Amos, Jordan Hinton, Shakara Liddelow-Hunt, Ashleigh Lin, Olivia Brozeki, Dan Powell, Joel Anderson, Gene Lim, Ruth McNair, Adam Hill, Jami Jones, Julie Mooney-Somers, Adam Bourne
Partners and funding
Private Lives 4 is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing.
Ethics
This study has been approved by the following Human Research Ethics Committees:
- La Trobe University Human Research Ethics Committee: HEC25389
- Thorne Harbour Health Research Endorsement Panel: THH-25-030
- ACON Research Ethics Review Committee: RERC 202522
- West Australian Aboriginal Health Ethics Committee (WAAHEC): HREC1476