Sunday 29 July 2012

Who's afraid to say lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex?



The following media release from the Hon. Mark Butler MP meant nothing at first until I decoded his slavish adherence to a little known acronym. One could be forgiven for suspecting that the Minister for Mental Health and Aging, as well as Social Inclusion, was uncomfortable with the use of plain English.

Apart from that – well done, Minister.


24 July 2012

The Gillard Government will develop a National LGBTI Aged Care Strategy to support the implementation of Living Longer Living Better.

Minister for Ageing Mark Butler said he had acted on the advice of the Productivity Commission as well as groups like the ACON Health Ltd, the National LGBTI Health Alliance and the GLBTI Retirement Association.

“We are predicting a large increase in the demand for aged care by this group,” Mr Butler said.

“And there is a broad community consensus that it is important to recognise people who are LGBTI in the same way as we recognise the needs of other diverse groups such as people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.

“Ultimately it’s about recognising difference and ensuring equality.

“We will work with the National LGBTI Health Alliance to develop a comprehensive strategy to make sure the needs of LGBTI Australians are addressed in the implementation of our $3.7 billion aged care reform package,” Mr Butler said.

Mr Butler said the strategy builds on the support already announced Living Longer Living Better package already provides support for LGBTI Australians.

“In April, I announced $2.5 million to support staff training that is sensitive to the specific needs of these older Australians,” Mr Butler said.

“This funding supports aged care providers to work with their staff to continually improve how they respond to the diverse and complex needs of the older Australians they support.

“The National LGBTI Aged Care Strategy will provide direction for providers and better articulate and coordinate our aims.

For all media enquiries, please contact the minister’s office on (02) 6277 7280

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