About the Research

Around the world, we are witnessing increased targeting of trans and gender diverse people. This ranges from a tsunami of anti-trans legislation being introduced in the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe, alarming increases in violent attacks and murders, particularly of trans women, policies excluding trans people from accessing gender affirming health care, a flood of online hatred and book bans and curriculum restrictions around the teaching of gender and sexuality.

Australia is not immune from this trend!

We cannot allow these attacks to go unchallenged. We must be on the front foot and proactively prevent the violation of trans and gender diverse people’s fundamental human right to live their lives with dignity, equality and free from discrimination.

The consequence of these relentless attacks on trans and gender diverse people can be seen in their mental health outcomes. In Australia, trans and gender diverse people experience high rates of depression, anxiety and suicidality. A 2021 national survey on the health and wellbeing of trans and gender diverse Australians found that:

• 7 out of 10 respondents had experienced depression and/or anxiety;

• 6 out of 10 had a history of self-harm; and

• 7 out of 10 had attempted suicide.

These numbers are staggering, and reflect the heavy human cost of the exclusion, discrimination and human rights violations that trans and gender diverse people experience in our community.

There is limited research into the lived experience of trans and gender diverse people in Australia to inform the development of appropriate and responsive law, policy and system reforms. In the absence of this evidence base, approaches to law and policy-making vary between state and territory governments. Legal protections remain inconsistent and inadequate, broader service systems have little impetus to adapt to meet the needs of this community and anti-trans discrimination and hate loom large.

The research team are working directly with the trans and gender diverse community in Australia to understand their experiences and perspectives. As academics, we are undertaking robust empirical research which will be comprehensively analysed and will culminate in persuasive evidence-based recommendations for reform. The project is commencing with a pilot study in Victoria.

We want to talk with people with lived experience of the issues faced by trans and gender diverse people. This will allow us to gather an evidence base which will underpin recommendations for legal and policy reform.

Would you like to talk with us about your experiences and opinions?