Page 3914 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 1 December 2021
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
When the government gathered young people together to discuss the findings of the report, they gave us clear areas for action to support them in their schools and with their health and wellbeing. I acknowledge this morning that more action is required across a range of areas. I have heard of people skipping meals because they have lost work or they are living on a temporary visa. I have heard that queer, trans and gender diverse people are not eating or drinking in public so that they do not need to use public bathrooms out of fear of being harassed or abused. I have heard that young people are still fearful to access crisis and emergency accommodation, especially if they are queer, trans or gender diverse.
What we see, Madam Speaker, is the burden of support falling on just a few grassroots organisations and community leaders. This is unacceptable. We do need to do more, but I am proud of the tangible changes and the progress that has been achieved under the first two years of the capital of equality strategy. But I am firm in my view that this is not the time to rest on our laurels or to slow down on action and reform in this area. We will not truly be the capital of equality and we will not achieve full equality and inclusion for all Canberrans in our wonderful diversity without further education, without further law reform, without additional resourcing and without the long, steady and consistent endeavours to shift community behaviour and attitudes day-on-day, week-on-week, month-on-month and year-on-year. You can still experience that sort of discrimination and fairly confronting prejudice and, I guess, quite confronting experiences, even when you are the Chief Minister in this place. Although things are better, it is still not equal.
Achieving equitable outcomes for everyone is a shared responsibility between the government and the community. We believe the first action plan has laid a solid foundation for us to now more meaningfully embrace the great diversity that we have within our city and to help ensure that everyone’s rights and freedoms are respected and that we are not leaving people behind. This action is urgent. The government is consulting our diverse community as a part of the ongoing development of the second action plan under the strategy, which will commence early next year and is intended to run until the end of 2023, before we move to the third action plan.
We have heard that access to inclusive, timely and specialist mental health supports, safe and affordable housing and prevention and support to recover from experiences of domestic, family and sexual violence are critical issues for the community. We have heard that targeted actions are required to support LGBTIQ+ Canberrans who are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, or who are from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, or who live with disability. We are working on plans to support these underrepresented communities and mainstream intersectionality in the second action plan.
This morning, I want to express how grateful we are to everyone who has very generously shared their time and knowledge. The government is committed to keeping Canberra the most inclusive and welcoming city in Australia. This requires people of diverse sex, gender, variations of sex characteristics, sexuality and relationships to see themselves clearly and genuinely represented in the work and identity of government organisations and the policies and services that are designed to support them.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video