Complaints

Section 5 - Stories of discrimination, vilification and harassment - Addressing sexual orientation and sex and/or gender identity discrimination: Consultation Report (2011)

Addressing sexual orientation

and sex and/or

gender identity

discrimination

Consultation Report

2011

Section 5 - Stories

of discrimination, vilification and harassment

Understanding the experiences of discrimination, vilification and harassment

suffered by people of all sexual orientations and sex and/or gender identities

is an important first step in considering how legal protection from

discrimination on these grounds might be framed. The consultation heard personal

experiences of discrimination and harassment from some participants, while

others relayed the challenges faced by partners, relatives, friends, associates,

members and clients.

Experiences of discrimination differed greatly depending on whether the

discrimination was based on a person’s sexual orientation or on a

person’s sex and/or gender identity.

The consultation heard about:

  • discrimination in employment
  • discrimination in the provision of goods and services
  • vilification and harassment
  • bullying and harassment experienced by young people
  • the impact of discrimination, vilification or harassment on mental health

    and wellbeing.

5.1 Discrimination in employment

Many participants reported experiences of discrimination in employment. These

reports are supported by research indicating that such discrimination is

commonplace. For example, a national survey of LGBT people in 2006 found that

10.3% of participants had been refused employment or denied a promotion based on

their sexuality.[31] Another

workplace study found that:

  • 52% of gay and lesbian employees surveyed were the subject of discrimination

    in their current employment because of their sexual orientation

  • more than 17% of participants felt their careers had probably been

    restricted because of their sexual

    orientation.[32]

(a) Discrimination in employment on the basis of

sexual orientation

Many participants in this consultation described being denied employment or

promotion opportunities or being dismissed or disciplined because of their

sexual orientation. For example:

Robert and Matthew alleged they were dismissed from their cleaning job ...

because they were a gay couple. The couple alleged that their employer regularly

brought up the topic of their sexuality in work conversations, reduced their

hours, and told them they wouldn't be given older people's houses to clean

because they would not be acceptable to older

people.[33]

I worked for seven years in the 1970s for the Australian Public Service. I

felt very vulnerable to discrimination during that time and believe that my

sexual orientation was the uncited reason in at least one instance of not

obtaining a promotion. I understand that great improvements have been made in

the culture of the APS since that time, but I believe that all federal public

servants should enjoy at least the same explicit protections under the law as

their state counterparts.[34]

The Inner City Legal Centre described how a client felt vilified and harassed

by the actions of her employer:

Tania was employed by a church run disability service. After working for 18

months Tania attended work and found that the homepage on her work computer

displayed a bible quote that said negative things about gay people. Tania

assumed that this was a mistake and drew her team leader’s attention to

the quote. The next day the quote remained. Tania wrote a letter to the

management explaining that she felt upset and unsafe having to look at that

quote everyday and asked that it be replaced with a bible quote that did not

vilify gay people. Three of Tania’s colleagues also signed the letter.

Tania was singled out and told that her gay agenda had no place in a Christian

work place. Tania’s professional reputation was then attacked, she was

accused of poor work performance. Tania was also assigned shifts that she had

previously indicated she would be unable to take or were inappropriate. Tania

contacted the [Anti-Discrimination Board] to see if she could lodge a complaint

and was told that her employer may be able to rely on the religious exception in

the Act. Tania left her job due to ongoing

harassment.[35]

(b) Discrimination in employment on the basis of sex

and/or gender identity

A number of trans and intersex participants explained the unique challenges

they faced in the workplace, including not being recognised as their preferred

gender, being forced to disclose private information and being denied employment

opportunities. For example:

Many companies are not willing to employ trans people, especially those of us

who do not "pass" as the gender we are transitioning to, because we're

considered too "difficult" for the workplace. Others will employ us, but force

certain requirements on us - the use of a badge with a gender-specific name,

gender-specific uniforms, forcing us to use the wrong toilet,

etc.[36]

While a public servant I was referred to as “the freak” by

several co-workers and received ongoing harassment by one particular employee

after I had mentioned that I was Intersex. As I understood it then, there was no

protection for harassment on the basis of being intersex as the sexual

harassment laws only protected males and females, and not

Intersex.[37]

The WA Gender Project described a trans man who:

[H]as his trans status repeatedly disclosed to other employees in the

workplace. He reports that every time a new employee starts work, they are told

that he is transsexual and that he “used to be a girl”. He says

that new employees will often then begin to use female pronouns to refer to him

after hearing this private

information.[38]

Other participants described being told they are no longer suitable for the

role after their sex and/or gender identity has been revealed. For example:

I was working in a local retailer when I first began my social transition

from female to male. I cut my hair very short, and started using my current

name. The general manager of the company sent a photograph of me, and my new

name in an email to all the managers in the group. I wasn’t comfortable

with this, but he said that the rest of the group needed to know who they were

talking to over the phone and email. I had been hired for an assistant manager

position, so that made sense. I was horrified a few weeks later when I was told

that I was not only being demoted from the position I was hired for, but being

made a casual staff member (with no rostered shifts) because I wasn’t

‘fit for full time work’. I protested, and he said: “face it,

you aren’t the girl we

hired”.[39]

Organisations representing people who are intersex also reported

discrimination in employment for which there is no remedy:

[A] person may be discriminated against in the workplace with impunity if

their sex is Intersex. Although current legislation provides for the protection

of males and females against sex discrimination it makes no provision for those

who have physical anatomies that are

neither.[40]

5.2 Discrimination

in the provision of services

Many participants provided examples of discrimination in relation to the

provision of services, including in:

  • aged care
  • health care
  • emergency housing
  • appropriate toilets and change rooms
  • sport.
(a) Aged care

Participants drew attention to research that shows that many older LGBTI

people have significant fear of harassment, poor treatment and alienation in

aged care facilities.[41] For

example, GRAI (GLBTI Retirement Association Incorporated) referred to the

following research:[42]

  • In comparison to older heterosexuals, older LGBTI people are two and a half

    times more likely to live alone, twice as likely to be single and over four

    times as likely to not have children. As a consequence, older LGBTI individuals

    may experience greater isolation, loneliness, lack of traditional family support

    and lack of recognition of

    partners.[43]

  • 20% of LGBTI respondents experienced discrimination from health care

    providers as a result of their same-sex

    relationship.[44]

The

consultation heard examples of discrimination in aged care facilities,

including:

An older transgender woman with dementia, who had lived most of her life as a

woman but had never had sex reassignment surgery, was forced by staff of the

religious aged care facility where she was being cared for, to live as a

man.[45]

Several participants stressed the importance of education about sexual

orientation and sex and/or gender identity for aged care service

providers.[46]

(b) Health care

During the consultation, trans and intersex people raised a range of concerns

about experiences of discrimination based on sex and/or gender identity in the

provision of health care. Issues raised by participants included:

  • difficulties in accessing and funding sex affirmation treatment in

    Australia, including a lack of specialists in some areas and the fact that sex

    affirmation procedures are not funded through the Medicare

    system:

When I first started testosterone treatment and my body

began to change I was really excited. But after a while I began to get more and

more uncomfortable with my breasts. I had always been uncomfortable with them

but this was different. I started to think that if I didn't have chest surgery

soon I would kill myself. I was so lucky that someone helped me to pay for it

because I couldn't afford it on my own. And now I just wonder how all of the

other trans guys out there who can't afford it cope. It is the worst feeling in

the world. I wouldn't wish it on my worst

enemy.[47]

  • not being able to claim Medicare rebates for procedures which were not

    aligned with a person’s legal sex:

In Western Australia, a

person with an ovarian cyst went to hospital and was thought to be male and

treated for appendicitis. He could not get a Medicare rebate for treatment of an

ovarian cyst.[48]

Intersex people are often rejected for medical procedures when their official

sex is seen to conflict with their anatomical structures; e.g. ovaries in an

apparent male and testes in an apparent

female.[49]

  • inappropriate treatment by the medical profession, including disclosure of

    irrelevant information,[50] failure

    to recognise preferred sex and/or gender on medical

    records,[51] and refusal of medical

    services:

Toni is a transgender woman living in the inner city. Toni

needed to attend a residential drug rehabilitation centre as she had been

struggling with alcohol and opiate dependency. Her support worker called

the local clinic, this clinic happened to be run by a religious based charity.

The clinic informed Toni’s support person that there was an opening for

Toni and that they would hold a place for her. When Toni presented at the clinic

she was refused service. When asking why she was told there was no spot for her.

Toni was sure that this refusal was based on the fact that she is a transgender

woman.[52]

  • degrading treatment by medical service providers:

When I found a

lump in my breast I was referred to a breast specialist who refused to see me

straight away because “I might scare the women in the waiting room”.

I was instead required to wait 7 days before the specialist would see

me.[53]

A person was placed in a male ward in a local hospital. When the receptionist

was asked why she was on a male ward, the receptionist replied “because

that is how we see

him”.[54]

(c) Emergency

housing

The consultation heard of discrimination occurring in access to emergency

accommodation sought by trans people. For example, the Freedom! Gender Identity

Association described how a trans woman who had not had gender reassignment

surgery was refused access to federally funded emergency

housing.[55] They also described the

situation of a trans man who expressed concerns for his safety if his sex and/or

gender identity was revealed whilst staying at a male boarding

house.[56]

The National LGBTI Health Alliance described the difficulties of a trans

person attempting to find housing:

A trans man in Queensland who has had ongoing health problems, including four

surgeries in the past year, has been homeless for 9 months. He has been on the

Qld Housing most urgent list for that time, but has seen other people that he

knows of housed before him. Requirements for documentation have been onerous in

the extreme, with the same documents having to be submitted repeatedly. When

discreetly living in a tent in bushland in a public park, he has been

‘moved on’ by police. Accommodation in male boarding houses is risky

for him because of his trans

status.[57]

(d) Appropriate toilets and change rooms

Several trans and intersex participants spoke of the difficulties they face

in accessing appropriate toilets and change rooms both at work and in public

places. For example:

Many transgender people are forced to limit their public social interactions

to places they know will enable them to toilet/change without incurring

discriminatory behaviour, harassment or violence. This has serious consequences

for all travel and, in particular, limits one’s ability to respond to

unexpected events in a ‘regular’ way. One of our members had to use

toilets on a different floor while transitioning as peers on his floor were

uncomfortable about him using either

one.[58]

I brought a dress from a shop in the Canberra Centre last week. The shop only

had a women’s fitting room and they refused me permission to try the dress

on even though I explained that I was Intersexed. I brought the dress anyway and

went home to try it on. It did not fit. So I went back to the shop to ask for a

refund. They flatly refused, saying their store policy was no refunds. So I

checked with ACT Fair Trading only to discover their policy was that you can't

get a refund if you choose the wrong

size.[59]

(e) Sport

The consultation heard that trans and intersex people are often restricted

from participating in sporting activities. For example:

In several jurisdictions, an individual can be legally denied the right to

participate in their chosen sport on the basis of the sex shown on their birth

certificate. Where the sex on an individual’s birth certificate is not the

person’s self-identified gender, it becomes extremely difficult for them

to participate in even social or amateur sporting

activities.[60]

5.3 Vilification

and harassment

Vilification and harassment includes derogatory or intimidating behaviour

such as physical or verbal abuse. Participants described their frustration at

the lack of legal protection from vilification and harassment in Australia. For

example:

I always hear homophobic language being used as put downs etc and never see

anyone being reported for vilification, however if they were [using] racist or

sexist language etc they would be reported for being

racist/sexist.[61]

It is my understanding that there are no laws against harassment based on

gender identity. In the last month I have been harassed numerous times because I

am visibly sex and/or gender diverse. I have been harassed by people on the

street and by people working in establishments I have entered. It is really

scary if there are no laws against people harassing you for being gender

diverse. There is essentially nothing you can do about it. This makes the public

sphere a very unsafe place for a lot of intersex, sex and gender diverse

people.[62]

Research shows that people are frequently vilified or harassed on the basis

of their sexual orientation or sex and/or gender identity. For example, in 2006,

the Private Lives survey found that out of all participants, 59.3%

experienced personal insults or verbal abuse and 13.7% experienced physical

attacks or other kind of

violence.[63]

Speaking Out (2010) found that of their survey participants:

  • 92% of trans women and 55% of trans men reported verbal abuse
  • 46% of trans women and 36% of trans men reported physical attacks without a

    weapon (punched, kicked, beaten)

  • 38% of trans women and 9% of trans men reported physical attacks with a

    weapon (knife, bottle, stones).[64]

Vilification and harassment are particularly prevalent

amongst young people and has serious consequences for their mental health. Writing Themselves In: 3 found:

Almost double the number of young people who had been verbally abused (40%),

in comparison with those who had experienced no abuse, had thought of self harm

(22%). Three times those who had been physically abused (62%), in comparison

with those who reported no abuse, had thought of self harm. This pattern was

repeated through self harm, suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts. For example,

in comparison with those who reported no abuse, twice the number of young people

who suffered verbal abuse, had attempted suicide and four and half times the

number of young people who had been physically assaulted, had attempted

suicide.[65]

The consultation heard many personal stories of vilification and harassment

experienced or witnessed by participants. Some of the more serious examples are

described below.

(a) Vilification and harassment on the basis of

sexual orientation

The Commission heard of a number of stories of vilification or harassment on

the basis of sexual orientation. For example:

When walking home, a man and his boyfriend were ‘jumped’ by three

teenage boys who called them ‘faggots’ and punched them in the

stomachs, chests and heads.[66]

I was abused and screamed at by a group of men... who called me a f**king

dyke [and said] that I should be stabbed or

raped.[67]

ACON described an incident reported to them as part of their Lesbian and Gay

Anti-Violence Project:

The victim has endured 20 years of homophobic abuse from his neighbour. He

has received taunts such as, “All poofters should be killed at

birth”; “Why don’t you poofters drop dead of AIDS?”,

“AIDS poofters” etc. The victim has taken several AVOs against his

neighbour and has had him charged with malicious damage. For the past two years

the victim has been on a disability support pension and is currently on

anti-depressants. He dreads venturing as far as his front yard because of the

fear of abuse from his

neighbour.[68]

The consultation also heard that vilification of gay men is closely linked

with vilification on the basis of HIV/AIDS status:

As gay men account for around 80% of all people that have been diagnosed with

HIV,[69] vilification on the ground

of HIV/AIDS status disproportionately affects gay men. ACON recommends that

HIV/AIDS status be included as grounds where vilification is

prohibited.[70]

A few comments expressed concerns about the increased risk of violence for

lesbian women who may be discriminated against on the basis of being female

(their sex) and their sexual orientation. Participants stressed their concern

that women only spaces should still be permitted under federal

laws.[71]

(b) Vilification and

harassment on the basis of sex and/or gender identity

The Commission heard some particularly disturbing examples of vilification

and harassment on the basis of sex and/or gender diversity. For example:

Other stories of vilification? I don’t know where to start. Do I tell

of the story I’ve heard of a person who had rocks thrown through her

window in a country town? The person who had a rubbish bin thrown through the

window of their car? Do I tell them my own story? I was sitting in my car

minding my own business at a set of lights. Two pedestrians came across the

pedestrian lights and thumped on the car. I went over the intersection and

realised I was in some degree of shock at the noise before I realised what had

happened – one of the pedestrians raced over to the other side of the

intersection, put their fist through the driver’s side window that was

closed, smashing it, punched me in the side of the head six times and just

walked off. I spent the night on an emergency trolley in the Alfred

hospital.[72]

At one place I started in, when I started transitioning 13 years ago, I was

attacked every day for two weeks. Every day and every night 24/7 ... My sons

used to come over who were then 12 and 14 and I would be getting rocks and bolts

and bits of iron, brick, wood, landing on the tin roof every five minutes. I

eventually moved because the police attitude to that was unless they are

actually in the house [they could not] do

anything.[73]

5.4 Bullying and harassment experienced by young

people

The consultation also heard a significant number of accounts of bullying and

harassment on the basis of sexual orientation or sex and/or gender identity

experienced by young people, largely in school environments. A recent study on

young LGBTI people, Writing Themselves In: 3, found that school was the

most likely place of abuse for young people with 80% experiencing abuse at

school. [74]

Young people provided the following examples of bullying or harassment:

I was bullied in highschool for looking, talking, walking and acting like a

gay male. Obviously this didn't encourage me to come out...until I was "outed"

by a friend....; being a teen is so so soooo hard. Add discrimination, fear,

anxiety, stress, depression because of your sexuality and you become a headcase

and end up in hospital. That's not how it should be. (Cisgendered male,

17)[75]

Yes. I have been called ‘poofter’ from the early days in high

school, because I was small, weak and studious. I drew into a shell and did

nothing but study. The thought of talking to anyone about my feelings, let alone

complaining, would have been laughable. I was often physically attacked at

school as well. I am surprised I got through those

years.[76]

Several participants asserted that school teachers did not respond to abuse,

were unsupportive of LGBTI students or engaged in harassment themselves. For

example:

During my high school years I was severely bullied (physically and

emotionally) to cope I want[ed to] confide in my schools Chaplin, I'm not

religious I just got good vibes from him. I told him I was gender queer and that

I wasn't straight, after that he stopped all communication and left me to deal

with things on my own which lead to my first suicide attempt (Gender

“undefined” female,

18).[77]

Throughout my time in high school I experienced constant harassment because

of my gender identity. I was frequently made fun of in class, often by teachers.

Students refused to use my chosen name, instead referring to me by my birth name

and using female pronouns; teachers did not punish them even though it was quite

clear that the harassment was deliberate ... Food was thrown at me on a number

of occasions. I was pushed, spat on and hit. A group of boys in the year above

me repeatedly threatened to rape me as "proof" I was a girl. There were several

threats to my life. .. None of the people who bullied me were ever

punished.[78]

The Youth Affairs Council of Victoria also found that more than 50% of young

people surveyed said they had been treated unfairly more than 3 times because of

their sexual orientation or gender

identity.[79]

5.5 The

impact of discrimination, vilification or harassment on mental

health

Australian and international research demonstrates that discrimination,

harassment or vilification has a significant impact on the mental health of

LGBTI people. For example, Suicide Prevention Australia estimates that suicide

attempts by lesbian, gay and bisexual people are between 3.5 and 14 times higher

than their heterosexual peers.[80] In the TranZnation Report on the health and wellbeing of trans

people in Australia and New Zealand, one in four respondents reported having

suicidal thoughts in the two weeks before completing the

survey.[81]

Participants demonstrated the connection between discrimination, abuse and

social exclusion with mental health issues including suicidal thoughts and

attempts. For example:

We would also like to highlight the very real links between community

attitudes towards "normality" in sex and gender, and the very real health

impacts on sex and/or gender diverse people that result from violence, social

exclusion and social

isolation.[82]

The effect of this pervasive abuse can be the development of significant

mental health issues experienced by GLBT people. The impacts of discrimination,

homophobia and violence were reflected in an analysis of 2007 Australian Bureau

of Statistics data which shows that GLB people were more than twice as likely to

experience ‘any mental disorder’. Alarmingly, homosexual and

bisexual people were more than three times more likely to have had an affective

disorder such as depression compared to

heterosexuals.[83]

[31] Marian Pitts, Anthony Smith, Anne Mitchell and Sunil Patel, Gay & Lesbian

Health Victoria and Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health & Society, Private lives: A report on the health and wellbeing of GLBT Australians (2006), p 51. At: www.glhv.org.au/files/private_lives_report_1_0.pdf (viewed

25 March 2011).
[32] Working It

Out, Homophobia in the Workplace (2010). At: http://www.workingitout.org.au/homophobia_workplace.html (viewed 25 March 2011).
[33] South Australian Equal Opportunity Commission, Comment 110, p

3.
[34] Name withheld, Comment 9,

p 1.
[35] Inner City Legal

Centre, Comment 142, p 8.
[36] Name withheld, Comment 70, p

1.
[37] Romanadvouratrelundar

Starfield, Comment 27.
[38] WA

Gender Project, Comment 125, p

3.
[39] A Gender Agenda, Comment

107, p 14. See generally Women’s Legal Centre (ACT & Region), Comment

106, p 2-3.
[40] Organisation

Intersex International, Comment 82, p

7.
[41] GRAI (GLBTI Retirement

Association Inc), Comment 140; Hawkesbury Nepean Community Legal Centre, Comment

97.
[42] See also MetLife Mature

Market Institute, Out and Aging: The Metlife Study of Lesbian and Gay Baby

Boomers (2006), as cited in GRAI (GLBTI Retirement Association Inc) and

Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, We Don’t Have Any of Those

People Here: Retirement accommodation and aged care issues for non-heterosexual

populations (2010).
[43] Peter Keogh, David Reid and Peter Weatherburn, Lambeth LGBT matters: The

needs and experiences of lesbians, gay men, bisexual and trans men and women in

Lambeth (2006), as cited in GRAI (GLBTI Retirement Association Inc) and

Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, We Don’t Have Any of Those

People Here: Retirement accommodation and aged care issues for non-heterosexual

populations (2010).
[44] Ruth

McNair and Nikos Tomacos, Victorian Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby, Not yet

equal: Report of the VGLRL Same Sex Relationships Survey 2005 (2005), as cited in GRAI (GLBTI Retirement Association Inc) and Curtin Health

Innovation Research Institute, We Don’t Have Any of Those People Here:

Retirement accommodation and aged care issues for non-heterosexual populations (2010).
[45] Freedom! Gender

Identity Association, Comment 90, pp

3-4.
[46] See, for example, Dr Jo

Harrison, Comment 78; GRAI (GLBTI Retirement Association Inc), Comment 140;

Freedom! Gender Identity Association, Comment 90; National LGBTI Health

Alliance, Comment 112.
[47] WA

Gender Project, Comment 125, pp

4-5.
[48] Melbourne Roundtable on

sex and/or gender identity, 9 November 2010. See also The Gender Centre, Comment

48, p 3.
[49] National LGBTI

Health Alliance, Comment 112, p

6.
[50] Name withheld, Comment

120.
[51] Above.
[52] Inner City Legal

Centre, Comment 142, p 9.
[53] Romanadvouratrelundar Starfield, Comment

27.
[54] Melbourne Roundtable on

sex and/or gender identity, 9November

2010.
[55] Freedom! Gender

Identity Association, Comment

90.
[56] Above.
[57] National LGBTI Health

Alliance, Comment 112, p 6.
[58] A Gender Agenda, Comment 107, p

16.
[59] Above.
[60] Above.
[61] OUTthere, Comment 72,

p 4.
[62] Sydney roundtable on

sex and/or gender identity, 28October

2010.
[63] Marian Pitts, Anthony

Smith, Anne Mitchell and Sunil Patel, Gay & Lesbian Health Victoria and

Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health & Society, Private lives: A

report on the health and wellbeing of GLBT Australians (2006), p 51. At:

www.glhv.org.au/files/private_lives_report_1_0.pdf (viewed 25 March

2011).
[64] Alan Berman and

Shirleene Robinson, Speaking Out: Stopping Homophobic and Transphobic Abuse

in Queensland (2010), p 43. See also Murray Couch, Marian Pitts,

Hunter Mulcare, Samantha Croy, Anne Mitchell and Sunil Patel, Australian

Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, TranZnation: A report on the

health and wellbeing of transgender people in Australia and New Zealand (2007). At: www.latrobe.edu.au/arcshs/downloads/arcshs-research-publications/Tranznation_Report.pdf (viewed 25 March 2011). This study found that 87.4% of transgendered survey

participants experienced at least one form of stigma and

discrimination.
[65] Lynne

Hillier, Tiffany Jones, Marisa Monagle, Naomi Overton, Luke Gahan, Jennifer

Blackman and Anne Mitchell, Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and

Society, Writing themselves in 3: The third national study on the sexual

health and wellbeing of same sex attracted and gender questioning young

people (2010), p 51.
[66] Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, Comment 121, p

9.
[67] Above.
[68] ACON, Comment 109A, p

2.
[69] National Centre in HIV

Epidemiology and Clinical Research, University of New South Wales, HIV, viral

hepatitis and sexually transmissible infections in Australia Annual Surveillance

Report 2010 (2010), p

46.
[70] ACON, Comment 109, p

8.
[71] ROAR Feminist Collective,

Comment 141; Erinyes Autonomous Activist Lesbians, Comment

143.
[72] Melbourne roundtable on

sex and/or gender identity, 9 November

2010.
[73] Above.
[74] Lynne Hillier,

Tiffany Jones, Marisa Monagle, Naomi Overton, Luke Gahan, Jennifer Blackman and

Anne Mitchell, Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, Writing

themselves in 3: The third national study on the sexual health and wellbeing of

same sex attracted and gender questioning young people (2010), p

39.
[75] Name withheld, Comment

105.
[76] Dr Paul Howat, Comment

7.
[77] Name withheld, Comment

105, p 3.
[78] Name withheld,

Comment 70, p 3.
[79] Youth

Affairs Council of Victoria, Comment

152.
[80] Suicide Prevention

Australia, Position Statement: Suicide and self-harm among Gay, Lesbian,

Bisexual and Transgender communities (2009), p 3. At: suicidepreventionaust.org/_notitia/FileHandler.ashx?id=EF740238ACF5729B7B20F25703BFD96611BF6D12 (viewed 25 March 2011).
[81] Murray Couch, Marian Pitts, Hunter Mulcare, Samantha Croy, Anne Mitchell and

Sunil Patel, Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, TranZnation: A report on the health and wellbeing of transgender people in

Australia and New Zealand (2007), p 28. At: www.latrobe.edu.au/arcshs/downloads/arcshs-research-publications/Tranznation_Report.pdf (viewed 25 March 2011).
[82] Fiona David and Peter Bailey, Comment 147, p

3.
[83] See Australian

Bureau of Statistics, National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing (2007), p 32. At: www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/4326.02007?OpenDocument (viewed 25 March 2011).