Gay and Lesbian Health Victoria – What is it?

Victoria’s Gay and Lesbian Health Action Plan [download pdf] was launched by the Minister for Health, Bronwyn Pike in July 2003. It recommended the establishment of a Health Resource Unit for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex Victorians, the first of its kind in the world.

In December 2003 the Government announced that the Unit would be established and managed by a consortium consisting of The Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society (ARCSHS), Women's Health Victoria (WHV) and the Victorian AIDS Council/Gay Men's Health Centre (VAC). The unit and this website are funded by the Victorian Government.

What will it be doing?

Basically the role of the Unit is to ‘to enhance and promote the health and well being of GLBTI people in Victoria. We do this in many ways, including:

• training health care providers and health organisations about GLBTI health needs and appropriate service delivery
• developing health resources for GLBTI communities, in conjunction with mainstream services
• establishing a research and information clearinghouse as a resource for health care providers, researchers and individuals to use in researching their own health issues. For more information about the clearinghouse go to the criteria page
• providing advice to Government on the planning and development of future GLBTI programs.

Who will do this work?

The Director of the Unit is Anne Mitchell, the former Manager of the Community Education and Liaison Unit at ARCSHS, Liam Leonard Manager, Education and Policy, and Sunil Patel is the Manager, Information and Resources. Where appropriate the Unit will draw on the expertise of other staff at ARCSHS where the Unit will be based, as well as WHV and VAC.

What is ARCSHS?

ARCSHS, based at the La Trobe University city campus, is a research and training centre that works particularly with marginalised communities such as people living with HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C, same sex attracted people, sex workers and indigenous people on issues of health and sexuality. Many of its staff are lesbian, gay or bisexual and active in their communities.

What about the other members of the consortium?

Women's Health Victoria is a women’s health promotion organisation. It has expertise in clearinghouse development and management, has carried out projects relevant to lesbian health and has a large collection of resources and information related to health and lesbians.

The Victorian AIDS Council/Gay Men’s Health Centre, has been delivering HIV prevention education, health promotion and health care to the GLBTI communities since its inception in 1983 and has a strong gay community base.

How will the Unit relate to the GLBTI communities?

The Unit is commited to working with community stakeholders, researchers, health care providers and government representatives, to oversee its work plan. It will also ensure that the GLBTI communities are kept informed about the work of the Unit through its website, the GLBTI media, forums and other community activities.

Meet the team

Anne Mitchell – Director

Anne Mitchell is a community development worker and an adult educator with over fifteen years experience in the field of sexual health. Her original training and experience was as a secondary teacher but in 1988 she was appointed as an adult educator in the AIDS/STD Unit of the Victorian Health Department and for the next four years, throughout the era of AIDS panic, developed and ran a large number of evidence-based workshops on AIDS in the Workplace. She also worked in sexual health promotion and alcohol and drug prevention programs over that time and was a volunteer with AIDSline and the Victorian AIDS Council.

In her most recent position as Manager of the Community Liaison and Education Unit at the Australian Research Centre In Sex, Health and Society she has worked on research and research-into-practice projects, particularly those with hard-to-reach groups. This includes work on gay men and HIV, lesbian health and the safety and wellbeing of same sex attracted young people in schools. She has published widely in the field of gay and lesbian health and has considerable experience in advocacy and community development work in this community. She is currently Deputy Chair of the Victorian Ministerial Advisory Committee on Gay and Lesbian Health.

Liam Leonard, Manager, Education and Policy

Liam Leonard is an academic, policy analyst and community advocate with over 10 years experience in the area of GLBTI health and wellbeing. He has developed and taught courses on sexuality and gender at RMIT and Monash Universities and has developed Commonwealth HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C and related diseases health education policy and programs. He has organised and run a community forums, conferences and government advisory bodies on GLBTI health and wellbeing. Liam has worked as the Executive Officer to the Victorian Ministerial Advisory Committee on Gay and Lesbian Health and has assisted the Committee in the development of Victoria’s GLBTI health and wellbeing strategy and overseen the development of a range of government-funded GLBTI programs and services. In his most recent role as a Research Fellow at ARCSHS Liam has managed projects on: gay men’s drug use, including crystal methamphetamine; Coming Forward an on line-survey on GLBTI Victorian’s experiences of homophonic violence and same sex partner abuse; and has assisted DHS in the development of its strategic response to rising rates of HIV and STIs among gay men. Liam has published widely in the area of GLBTI health and wellbeing policy.

Sunil Patel – Manager, Information and Resources

Sunil is responsible for designing, managing and maintaining the GLHV website and Clearinghouse.

He is also the principal editor of this website and webmaster and can be contacted by email sunil.patel@latrobe.edu.au

Sunil previously worked as the Web Manager for the Terrence Higgins Trust, a national UK HIV/AIDS charity, based in their London office. He trained as a Librarian at RMIT and worked in public libraries and as a web and information specialist. Sunil's background is in local government in the areas of equal opportunities, recruitment selection, and training. He has also worked as a photographer/multimedia designer and lecturer in London and New York . He continues designing and exhibiting.