north east regional extra | January 8 - 14, 2020
nemedia.com.au
1.
January 8 - 14, 2020
Rainbow warrior for inclusion
By BELINDA HARRISON
AS a nurse in the Emergency Department of Northeast Health Wangaratta (NHW), Allison Leatham is all too aware of the homophobic, transphobic and biphobia discrimination experienced by members of the LGBTQIA+ community and queer identifying staff members. But Allison, who identifies as a bisexual non-binary person and uses they/them pronouns, wants to change all that. She, along with LGBTQIA+ identifying staff members and NHW management, are working towards Rainbow Tick Accreditation for the hospital, with Allison recently recognised with an Organisational Improvement Award from NHW for the work they’ve done on the project. “It was really rewarding to be recognised and it’s wonderful that the leadership team (of NHW) recognises the importance of LGBTQIA+ inclusive practice and how vital it is,” she said.
Rainbow Tick Accreditation is a national program developed by Rainbow Health Victoria (formerly Gay and Lesbian Health Victoria) for organisations who are committed to safe and inclusive practice and service delivery for LGBTI people. To date, only 32 organisations across Australia in the sexual health, aged care and community health service sectors have gained the accreditation, and only two of those are hospitals - Peninsula Health and Hepburn Health Service. “I started off wanting to improve LGBTQIA+ inclusive practices in the area I worked and attended conferences and undertook training to improve my knowledge and leadership skills before approaching a member of the executive team to make it known how important this work was,” Allison said.
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