In late February, FCVic staff took part in Rainbow Health Australia’s training, Putting LGBTIQ Inclusion Into Practice. As well as educating and empowering the FCVic team to help create a culturally safe work environment for ourselves and our members, this puts FCVic on the path to Rainbow Tick accreditation.
What is Rainbow Health Australia?
Rainbow Health Australia is a program that supports lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender diverse, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) health and wellbeing through research and knowledge translation, training, resources, policy advice and service accreditation through the Rainbow Tick.
What is the Rainbow Tick?
The Rainbow Tick is a quality framework that helps health and human services organisations show that they are safe, inclusive and affirming services and employers for the LGBTIQ community.
The Rainbow Tick standards, owned and developed by Rainbow Health Australia, are designed to build lasting LGBTIQ inclusion.
What did FCVic staff think about the training?
Some of the FCVic staff reflected on the training afterwards and had this to say:
Matthew Parsons and Kerry Simple were expert presenters who managed the session beautifully. The content – which could be both challenging and sensitive – was clearly delivered, and Matt and Kerry created a space in which questions could be asked and explored respectfully. They had put a great deal of effort into understanding the role and purpose of FCVic – and the positions that our team members occupy within the organization – so that the training could be highly tailored to our organization and the roles we play within it. The session spoke very directly to how FCVic could increase LGBTI inclusion both internally and in its relationships to members and the broader public.
Further, all attending staff were required to complete a preliminary eLearning before the training. This ensured that all attendees began the training with a foundational understanding of the subject matter and meant that we could spend the time working together to explore how we could create a more LGBTIQ-inclusive environment. Matt and Kerry finished the session by encouraging us to maintain the momentum that was created in the session, noting that the training is only the first step toward LGBTIQ inclusion – as such, we look forward to picking up this work where the session ended in coming staff meetings.
I feel grateful that I had the opportunity to attend this excellent training with my team. What stood out for me was the enthusiasm, professionalism and collaborative presentation style of the trainers, Matt and Kerry. The wedding cake model used to explain the differences in Sex, Gender and Sexuality is something that really stuck with me and helped me in conversations with my family and friends afterwards. The materials used were conducive to my learning, the pace of the training was appropriate and overall, I found the session enjoyable and very useful. Highly recommend.
Rainbow Health Australia’s training was an excellent overview of issues around about putting LGBTIQ inclusion into practice in the workplace and beyond. As a member of the LGBTIQ community, many of the issues were not new to me, but the wonderful and knowledgeable presenters opened my eyes to perspectives I had not previously considered, and practical ways to be more inclusive in my personal and professional life.
I was impressed with both the content and manner of delivery for the LGBTIQ-inclusive practice training from Matt and Kerry at Rainbow Health Australia. The front loading of e-learning to make sure everyone was approaching this sensitive topic with a base level of understanding made the training feel safe and comfortable for me. I was particularly happy to see some clever use of analogies and activities to explain difficult concepts, such as equality versus equity versus liberation.
When we were discussing the intricate nature of intersectionality, it was heartening to hear the emphasis being put on structural change being at the core of LGBTIQ-inclusion – a great reminder that societal barriers are the issue that impedes equality, and not the individual. The detailed privilege versus oppression/resistance wheel was enlightening and presented me with some new ideas about the nature of intersectionality.
The way in which the training activities had been so carefully tailored for FCVic was impressive and gave us a practical base to continue this important work from. We discussed the barriers to service access that many LGBTIQ folks face, and how this dissuades them from accessing services until in acute distress – I hope by running more LGBTIQ focused training for members in the future, we can help change these outcomes in the financial counselling sector.
What about FCVic members?
Good news! Rainbow Health Australia will be our guest presenters in the May CPD session, ‘Working with LGBTIQA+ community members’. If you are a member, click here to register for this session.
We are excited for financial counsellors to have the same great experience with Rainbow Health Australia that the FCVic team did.