26 August 2008

Planning for the future of NSW’s gay lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) community will be the focus of a special meeting in late September. 

Called GLBT NSW 2020, the one-day roundtable will involve more than 20 community organisations across the health, legal, business, sporting, youth, media and cultural sectors. Other community organisations and individual community members will also be given the opportunity to participate online.

To be held on Saturday 27 September, this first ever event of its kind is being coordinated by ACON, the leading health promotion agency for NSW’s GLBT community.

ACON President Mark Orr says the Federal Government’s recent 2020 forum and the release of the City of Sydney’s strategic plan, Sustainable Sydney 2030, have provided an ideal opportunity for a discussion about the GLBT community throughout NSW and its goals over the medium to long term.

“While the Federal Government’s commitment to amending some pieces of discriminatory legislation is encouraging, there’s a lot more to do to gain full equality and inclusion for GLBT people in the Australian and NSW community,” he says.

“But social inclusion is only one issue. There are also many challenges within the GLBT community itself. These include community connectedness across ages, cultural and racial backgrounds, geographical locations and genders. There’s also the impact of alcohol and other drugs, an ageing population and, or course, HIV.”

New Mardi Gras Chair David Imrie says the community also needs to focus on the development of future leaders, how to sustain community organisations and how to approach law reform at the state level. “The challenges and opportunities we face are as a diverse and dynamic as our community,” he says. “GLBT NSW 2020 is the first step in meeting these challenges and developing these opportunities.”

Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby co-convenor Emily Gray says the aim of the summit is to identify a number of key areas for discussion within community organisations and the GLBT community across NSW.

“The feedback from roundtable participants and other contributors will form the basis of an action plan,” she says. “That plan can help inform and coordinate the activities of our community organisations and assist with strengthening the GLBT community between now and 2020. The plan will also identify how the GLBT community can develop future leaders and achieve law reform.”

Mr Orr says the number of organisations participating in the conference has to be limited due to logistical issues. “But it’s important to remember that this exercise is designed to kick off a larger conversation with GLBT community organisations and individuals.  We hope that everyone takes up the opportunity to be part of the discussions and tell us what they think we need to do as a community.”

Organisations, groups and community members not attending the conference can contribute to the agenda and discussion via an online questionnaire at www.acon.org.au/2020