Submission 3366 — Mr Andrew Hartwell (Attachment 2) — NDIS Future Generations Bill

LGBTQIA+ People with Disability Policy

Risk Packs

Consolidated document

Prepared from the uploaded policy pack ZIP. Draft email-template sections have been excluded.

Included policy packs

1. National LGBTQIA+ Disability Inclusion Strategy
2. LGBTQIA+ Disability Impact Statements for Major Reform
3. Safe Access to Gender-Affirming Healthcare for Disabled Trans and Gender-Diverse People
4. Conversion and Suppression Practices in Disability Settings
5. LGBTQIA+ Disability Safeguarding and Violence Prevention Framework
6. LGBTQIA+ Disability Housing and Homelessness Strategy
7. Inclusive Aged Care for Older LGBTQIA+ People with Disability
8. Chosen Family, Support Networks and Decision-Making Rights
9. LGBTQIA+ Disability Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Package
10. Inclusive Schools and Transition-to-Adulthood Policy
11. Disability-Inclusive Sexual and Reproductive Rights Policy
12. LGBTQIA+ Disability Employment and Economic Security Policy
13. Data Justice and Intersectional Measurement Policy
14. Digital Safety, AI and Automated Decision-Making Protections
15. LGBTQIA+ Disability Emergency and Disaster Resilience Policy
16. Justice, Police and Custodial Safeguards for LGBTQIA+ People with Disability
17. Culturally Safe LGBTQIA+ Disability Services for First Nations and CALD Communities
18. LGBTQIA+ Disability Community Infrastructure and Peer Leadership Fund

National LGBTQIA+ Disability Inclusion Strategy

LGBTQIA+ People with Disability Policy Risk Pack

Prepared for ministerial, departmental, parliamentary and stakeholder advocacy. Date: 8 July 2026.

Contents: full policy brief; two-page ministerial brief; source list.

Full Policy Brief

Field Content

To Minister / Shadow Minister / Parliamentary or

Departmental Stakeholder

From Andrew Hartwell

Date 8 July 2026

Subject National LGBTQIA+ Disability Inclusion Strategy

Purpose

This brief proposes a policy response to the risk issue: National LGBTQIA+ Disability Inclusion Strategy. The proposed policy is to establish a dedicated national strategy for LGBTQIA+ people with disability, linked to Australia’s Disability Strategy and the National Action Plan for the Health and Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035. The brief is intended for ministerial, departmental and parliamentary advocacy and can be adapted for federal, state or territory use.

Core risk LGBTQIA+ people with disability are repeatedly absorbed into broad disability policy or broad LGBTQIA+ policy, leaving the intersection underfunded, undermeasured and weakly governed.

The common structural problem is that LGBTQIA+ people with disability are often treated as too complex for standard policy categories. Disability systems may assume a person whose sexuality, gender identity or sex characteristics are irrelevant. LGBTQIA+ systems may assume a non-disabled person who can navigate services independently, travel easily, communicate without adjustment and safely disclose identity. Mainstream systems may assume that a general equality statement is enough. In practice, the result is a gap between rights on paper and access in daily life.

Current policy and evidence context The current policy context supports urgent action. Australia’s National Action Plan for the Health and Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035 provides a national framework for LGBTIQA+ health equity, while Australia’s disability policy architecture continues to respond to the Disability Royal Commission, NDIS reform, accessible housing, safeguarding and mainstream service obligations. Recent research and sector material also show that LGBTQIA+ people with disability experience distinctive risks across health care, safety, services, work, ageing, family relationships, education, data visibility and community participation.

Evidence base Why it matters Australian Institute of Family Studies, Supporting Evidence and practice guidance on harassment, bullying, LGBTQ+ young people with disability: What service sexual assault, poor mental health, self-harm and suicide providers need to know, 2026 risks for LGBTQ+ young people with disability. People with Disability Australia, PWDA launches National lived-experience evidence-gathering across national survey for LGBTQIA+ people with disability, identity, healthcare, safety, services, work and ageing. 2025 Australian Government Department of Health, Disability National approach to LGBTIQA+ health and wellbeing

and Ageing, National Action Plan for the Health and over 2025-2035. Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035 LGBTIQ+ Health Australia, Budget Submission 2026-27 Community-led proposals for investment in LGBTIQ+ health, wellbeing, intersex human rights and disability inclusion. LGBTIQ+ Health Australia, Disability Inclusion and Overview of OVOLOW, a co-designed advocacy Our Voices, Our Lives, Our Way resource for LGBTIQ+ people with disability. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, People with Notes the need to standardise how data captures diverse disability in Australia 2026: What can be done to groups within the disability population, including people improve the evidence who identify as LGBTIQ+.

Policy risk analysis The key risk is not limited to direct discrimination. It includes policy invisibility, underfunding, system fragmentation, poor data, unsafe disclosure, exclusion by design, and reliance on family or services that may not be affirming. These risks compound for people with cognitive disability, psychosocial disability, communication disability, acquired brain injury, autism, chronic illness, sensory disability, physical disability, intellectual disability or fluctuating support needs.

A government policy that appears neutral can still produce unequal effects if it assumes that everyone has a safe family, accessible transport, financial resources, digital literacy, a supportive GP, a stable home, privacy over personal records, and the confidence or capacity to complain. For many LGBTQIA+ people with disability, these assumptions are unsafe. A person may rely on a carer who does not affirm their identity. They may require assistance to complete forms but not want to disclose sexuality or gender to the person assisting them. They may be misgendered in care, isolated in housing, denied sexuality education, or exposed to identity-based abuse inside disability services.

Recommended policy response Establish a dedicated national strategy for LGBTQIA+ people with disability, linked to Australia’s Disability Strategy and the National Action Plan for the Health and Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035.

The recommended policy response should be implemented through the following actions:

• Create a time-limited national strategy with implementation plans, annual reporting and lived-experience governance.

• Fund a standing LGBTQIA+ disability advisory mechanism led by people with lived experience.

• Require all disability, health, housing, mental health and aged care reforms to address LGBTQIA+ disabled people as a priority cohort.

• Provide a dedicated implementation fund for community-led pilots, peer navigation and accessible service design. Implementation levers

• Legislation and regulation: clarify positive duties, anti-discrimination protections, complaints pathways and provider obligations where the risk is rights-based.

• Funding agreements: require publicly funded services to demonstrate both disability access and LGBTQIA+ cultural safety.

• Commissioning and procurement: include lived-experience co-design, accessibility, privacy, trauma-informed practice and independent evaluation requirements.

• Data and reporting: collect safe, voluntary, privacy-protective intersectional data, and publish aggregate service- improvement findings.

• Workforce capability: require training that addresses disability, sexuality, gender identity, sex characteristics, supported decision-making and safeguarding together.

• Independent oversight: include complaints, audits, peer review and escalation pathways that are accessible, identity-safe and protected against retaliation.

Disability-specific considerations The disability-specific dimension must remain central. A policy that is LGBTQIA+ inclusive but inaccessible will still fail. A policy that is disability-inclusive but identity-blind will also fail. Reasonable adjustment, supported decision making, communication access, physical access, digital accessibility, sensory safety, interpreter access, Auslan, Easy Read, trauma-informed practice and privacy controls should be treated as core design requirements, not optional enhancements.

Ministerial position The Minister can support the principle that no person should be required to choose which part of themselves a public service is prepared to recognise. A credible policy response should recognise LGBTQIA+ people with disability as a defined priority cohort, fund the organisations and peer leaders who understand the intersection, and place measurable duties on mainstream systems rather than leaving individuals to navigate exclusion after harm has occurred.

Suggested decision That the Minister agree to seek departmental advice on the feasibility, cost, governance and implementation pathway for the proposed policy response, including consultation with LGBTQIA+ people with disability and relevant representative organisations.

Selected sources Australian Institute of Family Studies, Supporting LGBTQ+ young people with disability: What service providers need to know, 2026. Evidence and practice guidance on harassment, bullying, sexual assault, poor mental health, self-harm and suicide risks for LGBTQ+ young people with disability. https://aifs.gov.au/resources/policy-and practice-papers/supporting-lgbtq-young-people-disability-what-service

People with Disability Australia, PWDA launches national survey for LGBTQIA+ people with disability, 2025. National lived-experience evidence-gathering across identity, healthcare, safety, services, work and ageing. https://pwd.org.au/pwda-launches-national-survey-for-lgbtqia-people-with-disability/

Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, National Action Plan for the Health and

Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035. National approach to LGBTIQA+ health and wellbeing over 2025

2035. https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/national-action-plan-for-the-health-and-wellbeing-of-lgbtiqa- people-2025-2035?language=en

LGBTIQ+ Health Australia, Budget Submission 2026-27. Community-led proposals for investment in LGBTIQ+ health, wellbeing, intersex human rights and disability inclusion. https://www.lgbtiqhealth.org.au/lha_budget_submission_2026-27

LGBTIQ+ Health Australia, Disability Inclusion and Our Voices, Our Lives, Our Way. Overview of OVOLOW,

a co-designed advocacy resource for LGBTIQ+ people with disability. https://www.lgbtiqhealth.org.au/disability_inclusion

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, People with disability in Australia 2026: What can be done to improve the evidence. Notes the need to standardise how data captures diverse groups within the disability population, including people who identify as LGBTIQ+. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/disability/people-with-disability 2026/contents/key-data-gaps/what-can-be-done-to-improve-the-evidence

Two-Page Ministerial Brief

Field Content

Issue National LGBTQIA+ Disability Inclusion Strategy

Decision sought Agree to develop a targeted LGBTQIA+ disability policy response and consult relevant representative organisations. Lead policy frame Establish a dedicated national strategy for LGBTQIA+ people with disability, linked to Australia’s Disability Strategy and the National Action Plan for the Health and Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035. Risk rating High where reform affects safety, housing, care, health access, decision-making, data, justice or service eligibility.

Problem

LGBTQIA+ people with disability are repeatedly absorbed into broad disability policy or broad LGBTQIA+ policy, leaving the intersection underfunded, undermeasured and weakly governed.

The policy gap arises because disability and LGBTQIA+ policy are often designed in parallel. People living at the intersection encounter both sets of barriers at once, but service systems frequently respond to only one.

Why it matters now

• Current reforms across disability, health, housing, aged care, employment and digital government create implementation risks for people with complex access and identity-safety needs.

• Recent research and sector evidence show elevated exposure to harassment, abuse, poor mental health, service discrimination and invisibility in data.

• Government can prevent harm by embedding intersectional safeguards at design stage rather than relying on individual complaints after exclusion occurs.

Recommended actions

• Create a time-limited national strategy with implementation plans, annual reporting and lived-experience governance.

• Fund a standing LGBTQIA+ disability advisory mechanism led by people with lived experience.

• Require all disability, health, housing, mental health and aged care reforms to address LGBTQIA+ disabled people as a priority cohort.

• Provide a dedicated implementation fund for community-led pilots, peer navigation and accessible service design. Suggested talking points

• LGBTQIA+ people with disability should not have to choose between identity safety and disability access.

• A general inclusion statement is not enough if the service pathway remains inaccessible, unsafe or dependent on disclosure to unsupportive people.

• Government should fund and govern policy through people with lived experience, not merely consult them after decisions are made.

• The proposed policy strengthens mainstream systems by making risk visible before harm occurs. Immediate next steps

1. Commission a short departmental options paper within 30 days.
2. Convene a lived-experience roundtable with LGBTQIA+ disabled people and representative organisations.
3. Map existing funding, programs and regulatory levers.
4. Prepare a costed implementation plan with annual public reporting.

LGBTQIA+ Disability Impact Statements for Major

Reform

LGBTQIA+ People with Disability Policy Risk Pack

Prepared for ministerial, departmental, parliamentary and stakeholder advocacy. Date: 8 July 2026.

Contents: full policy brief; two-page ministerial brief; source list.

Full Policy Brief

Field Content

To Minister / Shadow Minister / Parliamentary or

Departmental Stakeholder

From Andrew Hartwell

Date 8 July 2026

Subject LGBTQIA+ Disability Impact Statements for Major

Reform

Purpose

This brief proposes a policy response to the risk issue: LGBTQIA+ Disability Impact Statements for Major Reform. The proposed policy is to introduce mandatory LGBTQIA+ disability impact statements for major government reforms affecting health, disability, NDIS, housing, family violence, justice, education, employment and aged care. The brief is intended for ministerial, departmental and parliamentary advocacy and can be adapted for federal, state or territory use.

Core risk Reforms can appear neutral while increasing the burden on people whose disability, sexuality, gender identity or sex characteristics create specific access, safety and decision-making risks.

The common structural problem is that LGBTQIA+ people with disability are often treated as too complex for standard policy categories. Disability systems may assume a person whose sexuality, gender identity or sex characteristics are irrelevant. LGBTQIA+ systems may assume a non-disabled person who can navigate services independently, travel easily, communicate without adjustment and safely disclose identity. Mainstream systems may assume that a general equality statement is enough. In practice, the result is a gap between rights on paper and access in daily life.

Current policy and evidence context The current policy context supports urgent action. Australia’s National Action Plan for the Health and Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035 provides a national framework for LGBTIQA+ health equity, while Australia’s disability policy architecture continues to respond to the Disability Royal Commission, NDIS reform, accessible housing, safeguarding and mainstream service obligations. Recent research and sector material also show that LGBTQIA+ people with disability experience distinctive risks across health care, safety, services, work, ageing, family relationships, education, data visibility and community participation.

Evidence base Why it matters Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, People with Identifies gaps in disability data, including disability in Australia 2026: Existing data sources and administrative data limitations. challenges Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, People with Notes the need to standardise how data captures diverse disability in Australia 2026: What can be done to groups within the disability population, including people

improve the evidence who identify as LGBTIQ+. Australian Government Department of Health, Disability National approach to LGBTIQA+ health and wellbeing and Ageing, National Action Plan for the Health and over 2025-2035. Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035 People with Disability Australia, PWDA launches National lived-experience evidence-gathering across national survey for LGBTQIA+ people with disability, identity, healthcare, safety, services, work and ageing. 2025 Disability Royal Commission, Violence, abuse, neglect Research identifying higher rates of violence, abuse, and exploitation of LGBTQA+ people with disability, neglect and discrimination among LGBTQA+ people 2022 with disability.

Policy risk analysis The key risk is not limited to direct discrimination. It includes policy invisibility, underfunding, system fragmentation, poor data, unsafe disclosure, exclusion by design, and reliance on family or services that may not be affirming. These risks compound for people with cognitive disability, psychosocial disability, communication disability, acquired brain injury, autism, chronic illness, sensory disability, physical disability, intellectual disability or fluctuating support needs.

A government policy that appears neutral can still produce unequal effects if it assumes that everyone has a safe family, accessible transport, financial resources, digital literacy, a supportive GP, a stable home, privacy over personal records, and the confidence or capacity to complain. For many LGBTQIA+ people with disability, these assumptions are unsafe. A person may rely on a carer who does not affirm their identity. They may require assistance to complete forms but not want to disclose sexuality or gender to the person assisting them. They may be misgendered in care, isolated in housing, denied sexuality education, or exposed to identity-based abuse inside disability services.

Recommended policy response Introduce mandatory LGBTQIA+ disability impact statements for major government reforms affecting health, disability, NDIS, housing, family violence, justice, education, employment and aged care.

The recommended policy response should be implemented through the following actions:

• Require Cabinet submissions and regulatory impact statements to include LGBTQIA+ disability impacts where relevant.

• Mandate lived-experience consultation for reforms likely to affect disability, health, housing or safeguarding.

• Publish mitigation actions and implementation responsibilities.

• Create a template that tests family dependence, outing, service refusal, loss of supports, unsafe accommodation and digital exclusion.

Implementation levers

• Legislation and regulation: clarify positive duties, anti-discrimination protections, complaints pathways and provider obligations where the risk is rights-based.

• Funding agreements: require publicly funded services to demonstrate both disability access and LGBTQIA+ cultural safety.

• Commissioning and procurement: include lived-experience co-design, accessibility, privacy, trauma-informed practice and independent evaluation requirements.

• Data and reporting: collect safe, voluntary, privacy-protective intersectional data, and publish aggregate service- improvement findings.

• Workforce capability: require training that addresses disability, sexuality, gender identity, sex characteristics, supported decision-making and safeguarding together.

• Independent oversight: include complaints, audits, peer review and escalation pathways that are accessible, identity-safe and protected against retaliation.

Disability-specific considerations The disability-specific dimension must remain central. A policy that is LGBTQIA+ inclusive but inaccessible will still fail. A policy that is disability-inclusive but identity-blind will also fail. Reasonable adjustment, supported decision making, communication access, physical access, digital accessibility, sensory safety, interpreter access, Auslan, Easy Read, trauma-informed practice and privacy controls should be treated as core design requirements, not optional enhancements.

Ministerial position The Minister can support the principle that no person should be required to choose which part of themselves a public service is prepared to recognise. A credible policy response should recognise LGBTQIA+ people with disability as a defined priority cohort, fund the organisations and peer leaders who understand the intersection, and place measurable duties on mainstream systems rather than leaving individuals to navigate exclusion after harm has occurred.

Suggested decision That the Minister agree to seek departmental advice on the feasibility, cost, governance and implementation pathway for the proposed policy response, including consultation with LGBTQIA+ people with disability and relevant representative organisations.

Selected sources Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, People with disability in Australia 2026: Existing data sources and challenges. Identifies gaps in disability data, including administrative data limitations. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/disability/people-with-disability-2026/contents/key-data-gaps/existing-data-sources and-challenges

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, People with disability in Australia 2026: What can be done to improve the evidence. Notes the need to standardise how data captures diverse groups within the disability population, including people who identify as LGBTIQ+. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/disability/people-with-disability 2026/contents/key-data-gaps/what-can-be-done-to-improve-the-evidence

Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, National Action Plan for the Health and

Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035. National approach to LGBTIQA+ health and wellbeing over 2025

2035. https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/national-action-plan-for-the-health-and-wellbeing-of-lgbtiqa- people-2025-2035?language=en

People with Disability Australia, PWDA launches national survey for LGBTQIA+ people with disability, 2025. National lived-experience evidence-gathering across identity, healthcare, safety, services, work and ageing. https://pwd.org.au/pwda-launches-national-survey-for-lgbtqia-people-with-disability/

Disability Royal Commission, Violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of LGBTQA+ people with disability,

2022. Research identifying higher rates of violence, abuse, neglect and discrimination among LGBTQA+ people with disability. https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/violence-abuse-neglect-and-exploitation-lgbtqa people-disability

Two-Page Ministerial Brief

Field Content

Issue LGBTQIA+ Disability Impact Statements for Major

Reform

Decision sought Agree to develop a targeted LGBTQIA+ disability policy response and consult relevant representative organisations. Lead policy frame Introduce mandatory LGBTQIA+ disability impact statements for major government reforms affecting health, disability, NDIS, housing, family violence, justice, education, employment and aged care. Risk rating High where reform affects safety, housing, care, health access, decision-making, data, justice or service eligibility.

Problem

Reforms can appear neutral while increasing the burden on people whose disability, sexuality, gender identity or sex characteristics create specific access, safety and decision-making risks.

The policy gap arises because disability and LGBTQIA+ policy are often designed in parallel. People living at the intersection encounter both sets of barriers at once, but service systems frequently respond to only one.

Why it matters now

• Current reforms across disability, health, housing, aged care, employment and digital government create implementation risks for people with complex access and identity-safety needs.

• Recent research and sector evidence show elevated exposure to harassment, abuse, poor mental health, service discrimination and invisibility in data.

• Government can prevent harm by embedding intersectional safeguards at design stage rather than relying on individual complaints after exclusion occurs.

Recommended actions

• Require Cabinet submissions and regulatory impact statements to include LGBTQIA+ disability impacts where relevant.

• Mandate lived-experience consultation for reforms likely to affect disability, health, housing or safeguarding.

• Publish mitigation actions and implementation responsibilities.

• Create a template that tests family dependence, outing, service refusal, loss of supports, unsafe accommodation and digital exclusion.

Suggested talking points

• LGBTQIA+ people with disability should not have to choose between identity safety and disability access.

• A general inclusion statement is not enough if the service pathway remains inaccessible, unsafe or dependent on disclosure to unsupportive people.

• Government should fund and govern policy through people with lived experience, not merely consult them after decisions are made.

• The proposed policy strengthens mainstream systems by making risk visible before harm occurs. Immediate next steps

1. Commission a short departmental options paper within 30 days.
2. Convene a lived-experience roundtable with LGBTQIA+ disabled people and representative organisations.
3. Map existing funding, programs and regulatory levers.
4. Prepare a costed implementation plan with annual public reporting.

Safe Access to Gender-Affirming Healthcare for

Disabled Trans and Gender-Diverse People

LGBTQIA+ People with Disability Policy Risk Pack

Prepared for ministerial, departmental, parliamentary and stakeholder advocacy. Date: 8 July 2026.

Contents: full policy brief; two-page ministerial brief; source list.

Full Policy Brief

Field Content

To Minister / Shadow Minister / Parliamentary or

Departmental Stakeholder

From Andrew Hartwell

Date 8 July 2026

Subject Safe Access to Gender-Affirming Healthcare for

Disabled Trans and Gender-Diverse People

Purpose

This brief proposes a policy response to the risk issue: Safe Access to Gender-Affirming Healthcare for Disabled Trans and Gender-Diverse People. The proposed policy is to protect disability-informed access pathways for gender affirming healthcare, including supported decision-making, accessible telehealth, transport, communication support and safeguards against disability-based gatekeeping. The brief is intended for ministerial, departmental and parliamentary advocacy and can be adapted for federal, state or territory use.

Core risk Disabled trans and gender-diverse people may be less able to navigate restrictions, travel interstate, pay privately, challenge clinical gatekeeping or keep care private from unsupportive carers and family members.

The common structural problem is that LGBTQIA+ people with disability are often treated as too complex for standard policy categories. Disability systems may assume a person whose sexuality, gender identity or sex characteristics are irrelevant. LGBTQIA+ systems may assume a non-disabled person who can navigate services independently, travel easily, communicate without adjustment and safely disclose identity. Mainstream systems may assume that a general equality statement is enough. In practice, the result is a gap between rights on paper and access in daily life.

Current policy and evidence context The current policy context supports urgent action. Australia’s National Action Plan for the Health and Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035 provides a national framework for LGBTIQA+ health equity, while Australia’s disability policy architecture continues to respond to the Disability Royal Commission, NDIS reform, accessible housing, safeguarding and mainstream service obligations. Recent research and sector material also show that LGBTQIA+ people with disability experience distinctive risks across health care, safety, services, work, ageing, family relationships, education, data visibility and community participation.

Evidence base Why it matters Australian Human Rights Commission, Trans and gender Explainer on laws, systems and policies protecting trans diverse people’s rights in Australia, 2026 and gender diverse people.

Australian Human Rights Commission, Concerns Human rights concerns regarding Queensland

Queensland’s call on gender-affirming healthcare will restrictions on gender-affirming healthcare for young

cause harm and distress, 2025 people. Queensland Human Rights Commission, Human Rights State human rights concerns about pausing hormone Commissioner on pause on gender-affirming health care, therapies for new young patients. 2025 Australian Government Department of Health, Disability National approach to LGBTIQA+ health and wellbeing and Ageing, National Action Plan for the Health and over 2025-2035. Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035 Australian Institute of Family Studies, Supporting Evidence and practice guidance on harassment, bullying, LGBTQ+ young people with disability: What service sexual assault, poor mental health, self-harm and suicide providers need to know, 2026 risks for LGBTQ+ young people with disability. People with Disability Australia, PWDA put queer Reports survey findings including discrimination by disabled people In Focus at Mardi Gras, 2026 healthcare workers, support workers, carers or family members, and identity being ignored or not believed.

Policy risk analysis The key risk is not limited to direct discrimination. It includes policy invisibility, underfunding, system fragmentation, poor data, unsafe disclosure, exclusion by design, and reliance on family or services that may not be affirming. These risks compound for people with cognitive disability, psychosocial disability, communication disability, acquired brain injury, autism, chronic illness, sensory disability, physical disability, intellectual disability or fluctuating support needs.

A government policy that appears neutral can still produce unequal effects if it assumes that everyone has a safe family, accessible transport, financial resources, digital literacy, a supportive GP, a stable home, privacy over personal records, and the confidence or capacity to complain. For many LGBTQIA+ people with disability, these assumptions are unsafe. A person may rely on a carer who does not affirm their identity. They may require assistance to complete forms but not want to disclose sexuality or gender to the person assisting them. They may be misgendered in care, isolated in housing, denied sexuality education, or exposed to identity-based abuse inside disability services.

Recommended policy response Protect disability-informed access pathways for gender-affirming healthcare, including supported decision-making, accessible telehealth, transport, communication support and safeguards against disability-based gatekeeping.

The recommended policy response should be implemented through the following actions:

• Require state and federal gender-care policies to include disability access and supported decision-making safeguards.

• Fund clinical pathways for disabled trans and gender-diverse people, including regional telehealth and transport support.

• Issue guidance preventing disability from being used as a proxy reason to deny gender agency.

• Protect privacy where a person relies on carers, support workers or family members for administration or transport. Implementation levers

• Legislation and regulation: clarify positive duties, anti-discrimination protections, complaints pathways and provider obligations where the risk is rights-based.

• Funding agreements: require publicly funded services to demonstrate both disability access and LGBTQIA+ cultural safety.

• Commissioning and procurement: include lived-experience co-design, accessibility, privacy, trauma-informed practice and independent evaluation requirements.

• Data and reporting: collect safe, voluntary, privacy-protective intersectional data, and publish aggregate service- improvement findings.

• Workforce capability: require training that addresses disability, sexuality, gender identity, sex characteristics, supported decision-making and safeguarding together.

• Independent oversight: include complaints, audits, peer review and escalation pathways that are accessible, identity-safe and protected against retaliation.

Disability-specific considerations The disability-specific dimension must remain central. A policy that is LGBTQIA+ inclusive but inaccessible will still fail. A policy that is disability-inclusive but identity-blind will also fail. Reasonable adjustment, supported decision making, communication access, physical access, digital accessibility, sensory safety, interpreter access, Auslan, Easy Read, trauma-informed practice and privacy controls should be treated as core design requirements, not optional enhancements.

Ministerial position The Minister can support the principle that no person should be required to choose which part of themselves a public service is prepared to recognise. A credible policy response should recognise LGBTQIA+ people with disability as a defined priority cohort, fund the organisations and peer leaders who understand the intersection, and place measurable duties on mainstream systems rather than leaving individuals to navigate exclusion after harm has occurred.

Suggested decision That the Minister agree to seek departmental advice on the feasibility, cost, governance and implementation pathway for the proposed policy response, including consultation with LGBTQIA+ people with disability and relevant representative organisations.

Selected sources Australian Human Rights Commission, Trans and gender diverse people’s rights in Australia, 2026. Explainer on laws, systems and policies protecting trans and gender diverse people. https://humanrights.gov.au/know-your rights/rights-of-individuals/lgbtiq-rights/trans-and-gender-diverse-rights-in-australia/explainer-trans-and-gender diverse-peoples-rights-in-australia

Australian Human Rights Commission, Concerns Queensland’s call on gender-affirming healthcare will cause harm and distress, 2025. Human rights concerns regarding Queensland restrictions on gender-affirming healthcare for young people. https://humanrights.gov.au/about-us/media-centre/media-releases/lgbtqia/concerns-queenslands-call-on gender-affirming-healthcare-will-cause-harm-and-distress

Queensland Human Rights Commission, Human Rights Commissioner on pause on gender-affirming health care, 2025. State human rights concerns about pausing hormone therapies for new young patients. https://www.qhrc.qld.gov.au/our-work/media/2025/severe-limitations-on-the-rights-of-children-human-rights commissioner-on-pause-on-gender-affirming-health-care

Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, National Action Plan for the Health and

Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035. National approach to LGBTIQA+ health and wellbeing over 2025

2035. https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/national-action-plan-for-the-health-and-wellbeing-of-lgbtiqa- people-2025-2035?language=en

Australian Institute of Family Studies, Supporting LGBTQ+ young people with disability: What service providers need to know, 2026. Evidence and practice guidance on harassment, bullying, sexual assault, poor mental

health, self-harm and suicide risks for LGBTQ+ young people with disability. https://aifs.gov.au/resources/policy-and practice-papers/supporting-lgbtq-young-people-disability-what-service

People with Disability Australia, PWDA put queer disabled people In Focus at Mardi Gras, 2026. Reports survey findings including discrimination by healthcare workers, support workers, carers or family members, and identity being ignored or not believed. https://pwd.org.au/pwda-put-queer-disabled-people-in-focus-at-mardi-gras/

Two-Page Ministerial Brief

Field Content

Issue Safe Access to Gender-Affirming Healthcare for

Disabled Trans and Gender-Diverse People

Decision sought Agree to develop a targeted LGBTQIA+ disability policy response and consult relevant representative organisations. Lead policy frame Protect disability-informed access pathways for gender affirming healthcare, including supported decision making, accessible telehealth, transport, communication support and safeguards against disability-based gatekeeping. Risk rating High where reform affects safety, housing, care, health access, decision-making, data, justice or service eligibility.

Problem

Disabled trans and gender-diverse people may be less able to navigate restrictions, travel interstate, pay privately, challenge clinical gatekeeping or keep care private from unsupportive carers and family members.

The policy gap arises because disability and LGBTQIA+ policy are often designed in parallel. People living at the intersection encounter both sets of barriers at once, but service systems frequently respond to only one.

Why it matters now

• Current reforms across disability, health, housing, aged care, employment and digital government create implementation risks for people with complex access and identity-safety needs.

• Recent research and sector evidence show elevated exposure to harassment, abuse, poor mental health, service discrimination and invisibility in data.

• Government can prevent harm by embedding intersectional safeguards at design stage rather than relying on individual complaints after exclusion occurs.

Recommended actions

• Require state and federal gender-care policies to include disability access and supported decision-making safeguards.

• Fund clinical pathways for disabled trans and gender-diverse people, including regional telehealth and transport support.

• Issue guidance preventing disability from being used as a proxy reason to deny gender agency.

• Protect privacy where a person relies on carers, support workers or family members for administration or transport. Suggested talking points

• LGBTQIA+ people with disability should not have to choose between identity safety and disability access.

• A general inclusion statement is not enough if the service pathway remains inaccessible, unsafe or dependent on disclosure to unsupportive people.

• Government should fund and govern policy through people with lived experience, not merely consult them after decisions are made.

• The proposed policy strengthens mainstream systems by making risk visible before harm occurs. Immediate next steps

1. Commission a short departmental options paper within 30 days.
2. Convene a lived-experience roundtable with LGBTQIA+ disabled people and representative organisations.
3. Map existing funding, programs and regulatory levers.
4. Prepare a costed implementation plan with annual public reporting.

Conversion and Suppression Practices in Disability

Settings

LGBTQIA+ People with Disability Policy Risk Pack

Prepared for ministerial, departmental, parliamentary and stakeholder advocacy. Date: 8 July 2026.

Contents: full policy brief; two-page ministerial brief; source list.

Full Policy Brief

Field Content

To Minister / Shadow Minister / Parliamentary or

Departmental Stakeholder

From Andrew Hartwell

Date 8 July 2026

Subject Conversion and Suppression Practices in Disability

Settings

Purpose

This brief proposes a policy response to the risk issue: Conversion and Suppression Practices in Disability Settings. The proposed policy is to ensure conversion and suppression practice laws and guidance explicitly address disability services, supported accommodation, behaviour support, guardianship, allied health, schools and faith-based care. The brief is intended for ministerial, departmental and parliamentary advocacy and can be adapted for federal, state or territory use.

Core risk People with cognitive disability, psychosocial disability, communication disability or dependence on carers may be exposed to coercive practices disguised as therapy, behaviour management, pastoral care or family decision-making.

The common structural problem is that LGBTQIA+ people with disability are often treated as too complex for standard policy categories. Disability systems may assume a person whose sexuality, gender identity or sex characteristics are irrelevant. LGBTQIA+ systems may assume a non-disabled person who can navigate services independently, travel easily, communicate without adjustment and safely disclose identity. Mainstream systems may assume that a general equality statement is enough. In practice, the result is a gap between rights on paper and access in daily life.

Current policy and evidence context The current policy context supports urgent action. Australia’s National Action Plan for the Health and Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035 provides a national framework for LGBTIQA+ health equity, while Australia’s disability policy architecture continues to respond to the Disability Royal Commission, NDIS reform, accessible housing, safeguarding and mainstream service obligations. Recent research and sector material also show that LGBTQIA+ people with disability experience distinctive risks across health care, safety, services, work, ageing, family relationships, education, data visibility and community participation.

Evidence base Why it matters NSW Department of Communities and Justice, Harmful NSW conversion-practices ban and civil complaints LGBTQ+ conversion practices now banned in NSW, scheme. 2025 NSW Conversion Practices Ban Act 2024 No 19 Legislative framework banning conversion practices in

NSW. Disability Royal Commission, Violence, abuse, neglect Research identifying higher rates of violence, abuse, and exploitation of LGBTQA+ people with disability, neglect and discrimination among LGBTQA+ people 2022 with disability. La Trobe University, Research report on violence, abuse, Secondary analysis of Private Lives 3 and Writing neglect and exploitation of LGBTQA+ people with Themselves In 4. disability, 2022 People with Disability Australia, PWDA put queer Reports survey findings including discrimination by disabled people In Focus at Mardi Gras, 2026 healthcare workers, support workers, carers or family members, and identity being ignored or not believed.

Policy risk analysis The key risk is not limited to direct discrimination. It includes policy invisibility, underfunding, system fragmentation, poor data, unsafe disclosure, exclusion by design, and reliance on family or services that may not be affirming. These risks compound for people with cognitive disability, psychosocial disability, communication disability, acquired brain injury, autism, chronic illness, sensory disability, physical disability, intellectual disability or fluctuating support needs.

A government policy that appears neutral can still produce unequal effects if it assumes that everyone has a safe family, accessible transport, financial resources, digital literacy, a supportive GP, a stable home, privacy over personal records, and the confidence or capacity to complain. For many LGBTQIA+ people with disability, these assumptions are unsafe. A person may rely on a carer who does not affirm their identity. They may require assistance to complete forms but not want to disclose sexuality or gender to the person assisting them. They may be misgendered in care, isolated in housing, denied sexuality education, or exposed to identity-based abuse inside disability services.

Recommended policy response Ensure conversion and suppression practice laws and guidance explicitly address disability services, supported accommodation, behaviour support, guardianship, allied health, schools and faith-based care.

The recommended policy response should be implemented through the following actions:

• Issue disability-specific implementation guidance for conversion-practice bans.

• Train disability providers, schools, clinicians, guardians and behaviour support practitioners on prohibited practices.

• Establish accessible complaints pathways, including Easy Read, Auslan, interpreter and advocacy support.

• Audit disability service settings where sexuality or gender expression is suppressed through support planning. Implementation levers

• Legislation and regulation: clarify positive duties, anti-discrimination protections, complaints pathways and provider obligations where the risk is rights-based.

• Funding agreements: require publicly funded services to demonstrate both disability access and LGBTQIA+ cultural safety.

• Commissioning and procurement: include lived-experience co-design, accessibility, privacy, trauma-informed practice and independent evaluation requirements.

• Data and reporting: collect safe, voluntary, privacy-protective intersectional data, and publish aggregate service- improvement findings.

• Workforce capability: require training that addresses disability, sexuality, gender identity, sex characteristics, supported decision-making and safeguarding together.

• Independent oversight: include complaints, audits, peer review and escalation pathways that are accessible, identity-safe and protected against retaliation.

Disability-specific considerations The disability-specific dimension must remain central. A policy that is LGBTQIA+ inclusive but inaccessible will still fail. A policy that is disability-inclusive but identity-blind will also fail. Reasonable adjustment, supported decision making, communication access, physical access, digital accessibility, sensory safety, interpreter access, Auslan, Easy Read, trauma-informed practice and privacy controls should be treated as core design requirements, not optional enhancements.

Ministerial position The Minister can support the principle that no person should be required to choose which part of themselves a public service is prepared to recognise. A credible policy response should recognise LGBTQIA+ people with disability as a defined priority cohort, fund the organisations and peer leaders who understand the intersection, and place measurable duties on mainstream systems rather than leaving individuals to navigate exclusion after harm has occurred.

Suggested decision That the Minister agree to seek departmental advice on the feasibility, cost, governance and implementation pathway for the proposed policy response, including consultation with LGBTQIA+ people with disability and relevant representative organisations.

Selected sources NSW Department of Communities and Justice, Harmful LGBTQ+ conversion practices now banned in NSW,

2025. NSW conversion-practices ban and civil complaints scheme. https://dcj.nsw.gov.au/news-and-media/media- releases/2025/harmful-lgbtq–conversion-practices-now-banned-in-nsw.html

NSW Conversion Practices Ban Act 2024 No 19. Legislative framework banning conversion practices in NSW. https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/whole/html/inforce/current/act-2024-019

Disability Royal Commission, Violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of LGBTQA+ people with disability,

2022. Research identifying higher rates of violence, abuse, neglect and discrimination among LGBTQA+ people with disability. https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/violence-abuse-neglect-and-exploitation-lgbtqa people-disability

La Trobe University, Research report on violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of LGBTQA+ people with disability, 2022. Secondary analysis of Private Lives 3 and Writing Themselves In 4. https://www.latrobe.edu.au/arcshs/work/lgbtiq-health/private-lives-3

People with Disability Australia, PWDA put queer disabled people In Focus at Mardi Gras, 2026. Reports survey findings including discrimination by healthcare workers, support workers, carers or family members, and identity being ignored or not believed. https://pwd.org.au/pwda-put-queer-disabled-people-in-focus-at-mardi-gras/

Two-Page Ministerial Brief

Field Content

Issue Conversion and Suppression Practices in Disability

Settings

Decision sought Agree to develop a targeted LGBTQIA+ disability policy response and consult relevant representative organisations. Lead policy frame Ensure conversion and suppression practice laws and guidance explicitly address disability services, supported accommodation, behaviour support, guardianship, allied health, schools and faith-based care. Risk rating High where reform affects safety, housing, care, health access, decision-making, data, justice or service eligibility.

Problem

People with cognitive disability, psychosocial disability, communication disability or dependence on carers may be exposed to coercive practices disguised as therapy, behaviour management, pastoral care or family decision-making.

The policy gap arises because disability and LGBTQIA+ policy are often designed in parallel. People living at the intersection encounter both sets of barriers at once, but service systems frequently respond to only one.

Why it matters now

• Current reforms across disability, health, housing, aged care, employment and digital government create implementation risks for people with complex access and identity-safety needs.

• Recent research and sector evidence show elevated exposure to harassment, abuse, poor mental health, service discrimination and invisibility in data.

• Government can prevent harm by embedding intersectional safeguards at design stage rather than relying on individual complaints after exclusion occurs.

Recommended actions

• Issue disability-specific implementation guidance for conversion-practice bans.

• Train disability providers, schools, clinicians, guardians and behaviour support practitioners on prohibited practices.

• Establish accessible complaints pathways, including Easy Read, Auslan, interpreter and advocacy support.

• Audit disability service settings where sexuality or gender expression is suppressed through support planning. Suggested talking points

• LGBTQIA+ people with disability should not have to choose between identity safety and disability access.

• A general inclusion statement is not enough if the service pathway remains inaccessible, unsafe or dependent on disclosure to unsupportive people.

• Government should fund and govern policy through people with lived experience, not merely consult them after decisions are made.

• The proposed policy strengthens mainstream systems by making risk visible before harm occurs. Immediate next steps

1. Commission a short departmental options paper within 30 days.

2. Convene a lived-experience roundtable with LGBTQIA+ disabled people and representative organisations.
3. Map existing funding, programs and regulatory levers.
4. Prepare a costed implementation plan with annual public reporting.

LGBTQIA+ Disability Safeguarding and Violence

Prevention Framework

LGBTQIA+ People with Disability Policy Risk Pack

Prepared for ministerial, departmental, parliamentary and stakeholder advocacy. Date: 8 July 2026.

Contents: full policy brief; two-page ministerial brief; source list.

Full Policy Brief

Field Content

To Minister / Shadow Minister / Parliamentary or

Departmental Stakeholder

From Andrew Hartwell

Date 8 July 2026

Subject LGBTQIA+ Disability Safeguarding and Violence

Prevention Framework

Purpose

This brief proposes a policy response to the risk issue: LGBTQIA+ Disability Safeguarding and Violence Prevention Framework. The proposed policy is to create a safeguarding framework addressing identity-based violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation in disability, health, education, aged care, housing, justice and mental health settings. The brief is intended for ministerial, departmental and parliamentary advocacy and can be adapted for federal, state or territory use.

Core risk Existing safeguarding systems often identify disability-related abuse but miss abuse driven by sexuality, gender identity, sex characteristics, family rejection, outing, coercion or service hostility.

The common structural problem is that LGBTQIA+ people with disability are often treated as too complex for standard policy categories. Disability systems may assume a person whose sexuality, gender identity or sex characteristics are irrelevant. LGBTQIA+ systems may assume a non-disabled person who can navigate services independently, travel easily, communicate without adjustment and safely disclose identity. Mainstream systems may assume that a general equality statement is enough. In practice, the result is a gap between rights on paper and access in daily life.

Current policy and evidence context The current policy context supports urgent action. Australia’s National Action Plan for the Health and Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035 provides a national framework for LGBTIQA+ health equity, while Australia’s disability policy architecture continues to respond to the Disability Royal Commission, NDIS reform, accessible housing, safeguarding and mainstream service obligations. Recent research and sector material also show that LGBTQIA+ people with disability experience distinctive risks across health care, safety, services, work, ageing, family relationships, education, data visibility and community participation.

Evidence base Why it matters Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Final report with recommendations on violence, abuse, Exploitation of People with Disability, Final Report, neglect and exploitation. 2023 Disability Royal Commission, Violence, abuse, neglect Research identifying higher rates of violence, abuse,

and exploitation of LGBTQA+ people with disability, neglect and discrimination among LGBTQA+ people 2022 with disability. La Trobe University, Research report on violence, abuse, Secondary analysis of Private Lives 3 and Writing neglect and exploitation of LGBTQA+ people with Themselves In 4. disability, 2022 People with Disability Australia, PWDA put queer Reports survey findings including discrimination by disabled people In Focus at Mardi Gras, 2026 healthcare workers, support workers, carers or family members, and identity being ignored or not believed. Australian Institute of Family Studies, Supporting Evidence and practice guidance on harassment, bullying, LGBTQ+ young people with disability: What service sexual assault, poor mental health, self-harm and suicide providers need to know, 2026 risks for LGBTQ+ young people with disability.

Policy risk analysis The key risk is not limited to direct discrimination. It includes policy invisibility, underfunding, system fragmentation, poor data, unsafe disclosure, exclusion by design, and reliance on family or services that may not be affirming. These risks compound for people with cognitive disability, psychosocial disability, communication disability, acquired brain injury, autism, chronic illness, sensory disability, physical disability, intellectual disability or fluctuating support needs.

A government policy that appears neutral can still produce unequal effects if it assumes that everyone has a safe family, accessible transport, financial resources, digital literacy, a supportive GP, a stable home, privacy over personal records, and the confidence or capacity to complain. For many LGBTQIA+ people with disability, these assumptions are unsafe. A person may rely on a carer who does not affirm their identity. They may require assistance to complete forms but not want to disclose sexuality or gender to the person assisting them. They may be misgendered in care, isolated in housing, denied sexuality education, or exposed to identity-based abuse inside disability services.

Recommended policy response Create a safeguarding framework addressing identity-based violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation in disability, health, education, aged care, housing, justice and mental health settings.

The recommended policy response should be implemented through the following actions:

• Embed LGBTQIA+ disability risk indicators in safeguarding, complaints and incident-reporting systems.

• Fund peer advocacy and independent visitor models for people in closed or congregate settings.

• Require NDIS and mainstream providers to demonstrate LGBTQIA+ disability competence.

• Develop trauma-informed, identity-safe complaint pathways with protection against retaliation. Implementation levers

• Legislation and regulation: clarify positive duties, anti-discrimination protections, complaints pathways and provider obligations where the risk is rights-based.

• Funding agreements: require publicly funded services to demonstrate both disability access and LGBTQIA+ cultural safety.

• Commissioning and procurement: include lived-experience co-design, accessibility, privacy, trauma-informed practice and independent evaluation requirements.

• Data and reporting: collect safe, voluntary, privacy-protective intersectional data, and publish aggregate service- improvement findings.

• Workforce capability: require training that addresses disability, sexuality, gender identity, sex characteristics, supported decision-making and safeguarding together.

• Independent oversight: include complaints, audits, peer review and escalation pathways that are accessible, identity-safe and protected against retaliation.

Disability-specific considerations The disability-specific dimension must remain central. A policy that is LGBTQIA+ inclusive but inaccessible will still fail. A policy that is disability-inclusive but identity-blind will also fail. Reasonable adjustment, supported decision making, communication access, physical access, digital accessibility, sensory safety, interpreter access, Auslan, Easy Read, trauma-informed practice and privacy controls should be treated as core design requirements, not optional enhancements.

Ministerial position The Minister can support the principle that no person should be required to choose which part of themselves a public service is prepared to recognise. A credible policy response should recognise LGBTQIA+ people with disability as a defined priority cohort, fund the organisations and peer leaders who understand the intersection, and place measurable duties on mainstream systems rather than leaving individuals to navigate exclusion after harm has occurred.

Suggested decision That the Minister agree to seek departmental advice on the feasibility, cost, governance and implementation pathway for the proposed policy response, including consultation with LGBTQIA+ people with disability and relevant representative organisations.

Selected sources Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability, Final Report, 2023. Final report with recommendations on violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation. https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/final-report

Disability Royal Commission, Violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of LGBTQA+ people with disability,

2022. Research identifying higher rates of violence, abuse, neglect and discrimination among LGBTQA+ people with disability. https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/violence-abuse-neglect-and-exploitation-lgbtqa people-disability

La Trobe University, Research report on violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of LGBTQA+ people with disability, 2022. Secondary analysis of Private Lives 3 and Writing Themselves In 4. https://www.latrobe.edu.au/arcshs/work/lgbtiq-health/private-lives-3

People with Disability Australia, PWDA put queer disabled people In Focus at Mardi Gras, 2026. Reports survey findings including discrimination by healthcare workers, support workers, carers or family members, and identity being ignored or not believed. https://pwd.org.au/pwda-put-queer-disabled-people-in-focus-at-mardi-gras/

Australian Institute of Family Studies, Supporting LGBTQ+ young people with disability: What service providers need to know, 2026. Evidence and practice guidance on harassment, bullying, sexual assault, poor mental health, self-harm and suicide risks for LGBTQ+ young people with disability. https://aifs.gov.au/resources/policy-and practice-papers/supporting-lgbtq-young-people-disability-what-service

Two-Page Ministerial Brief

Field Content

Issue LGBTQIA+ Disability Safeguarding and Violence

Prevention Framework

Decision sought Agree to develop a targeted LGBTQIA+ disability policy response and consult relevant representative organisations. Lead policy frame Create a safeguarding framework addressing identity based violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation in disability, health, education, aged care, housing, justice and mental health settings. Risk rating High where reform affects safety, housing, care, health access, decision-making, data, justice or service eligibility.

Problem

Existing safeguarding systems often identify disability-related abuse but miss abuse driven by sexuality, gender identity, sex characteristics, family rejection, outing, coercion or service hostility.

The policy gap arises because disability and LGBTQIA+ policy are often designed in parallel. People living at the intersection encounter both sets of barriers at once, but service systems frequently respond to only one.

Why it matters now

• Current reforms across disability, health, housing, aged care, employment and digital government create implementation risks for people with complex access and identity-safety needs.

• Recent research and sector evidence show elevated exposure to harassment, abuse, poor mental health, service discrimination and invisibility in data.

• Government can prevent harm by embedding intersectional safeguards at design stage rather than relying on individual complaints after exclusion occurs.

Recommended actions

• Embed LGBTQIA+ disability risk indicators in safeguarding, complaints and incident-reporting systems.

• Fund peer advocacy and independent visitor models for people in closed or congregate settings.

• Require NDIS and mainstream providers to demonstrate LGBTQIA+ disability competence.

• Develop trauma-informed, identity-safe complaint pathways with protection against retaliation. Suggested talking points

• LGBTQIA+ people with disability should not have to choose between identity safety and disability access.

• A general inclusion statement is not enough if the service pathway remains inaccessible, unsafe or dependent on disclosure to unsupportive people.

• Government should fund and govern policy through people with lived experience, not merely consult them after decisions are made.

• The proposed policy strengthens mainstream systems by making risk visible before harm occurs.

Immediate next steps

1. Commission a short departmental options paper within 30 days.
2. Convene a lived-experience roundtable with LGBTQIA+ disabled people and representative organisations.
3. Map existing funding, programs and regulatory levers.
4. Prepare a costed implementation plan with annual public reporting.

LGBTQIA+ Disability Housing and Homelessness

Strategy

LGBTQIA+ People with Disability Policy Risk Pack

Prepared for ministerial, departmental, parliamentary and stakeholder advocacy. Date: 8 July 2026.

Contents: full policy brief; two-page ministerial brief; source list.

Full Policy Brief

Field Content

To Minister / Shadow Minister / Parliamentary or

Departmental Stakeholder

From Andrew Hartwell

Date 8 July 2026

Subject LGBTQIA+ Disability Housing and Homelessness

Strategy

Purpose

This brief proposes a policy response to the risk issue: LGBTQIA+ Disability Housing and Homelessness Strategy. The proposed policy is to develop an accessible LGBTQIA+ disability housing and homelessness strategy covering crisis accommodation, transitional housing, social housing, private rental protections and chosen-family safety. The brief is intended for ministerial, departmental and parliamentary advocacy and can be adapted for federal, state or territory use.

Core risk LGBTQIA+ disabled people may face family rejection, unsafe share housing, inaccessible homelessness services, discrimination by providers and housing models that cannot accommodate support, equipment or identity safety.

The common structural problem is that LGBTQIA+ people with disability are often treated as too complex for standard policy categories. Disability systems may assume a person whose sexuality, gender identity or sex characteristics are irrelevant. LGBTQIA+ systems may assume a non-disabled person who can navigate services independently, travel easily, communicate without adjustment and safely disclose identity. Mainstream systems may assume that a general equality statement is enough. In practice, the result is a gap between rights on paper and access in daily life.

Current policy and evidence context The current policy context supports urgent action. Australia’s National Action Plan for the Health and Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035 provides a national framework for LGBTIQA+ health equity, while Australia’s disability policy architecture continues to respond to the Disability Royal Commission, NDIS reform, accessible housing, safeguarding and mainstream service obligations. Recent research and sector material also show that LGBTQIA+ people with disability experience distinctive risks across health care, safety, services, work, ageing, family relationships, education, data visibility and community participation.

Evidence base Why it matters Australian Human Rights Commission, Stats and Facts: Includes national facts on LGBTIQA+ rights, including LGBTIQA+ rights, 2025 homelessness. People with Disability Australia, PWDA launches National lived-experience evidence-gathering across national survey for LGBTQIA+ people with disability, identity, healthcare, safety, services, work and ageing. 2025

Disability Royal Commission, Violence, abuse, neglect Research identifying higher rates of violence, abuse, and exploitation of LGBTQA+ people with disability, neglect and discrimination among LGBTQA+ people 2022 with disability. Australian Government Department of Health, Disability National approach to LGBTIQA+ health and wellbeing and Ageing, National Action Plan for the Health and over 2025-2035. Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035 Australian Institute of Family Studies, Supporting Evidence and practice guidance on harassment, bullying, LGBTQ+ young people with disability: What service sexual assault, poor mental health, self-harm and suicide providers need to know, 2026 risks for LGBTQ+ young people with disability.

Policy risk analysis The key risk is not limited to direct discrimination. It includes policy invisibility, underfunding, system fragmentation, poor data, unsafe disclosure, exclusion by design, and reliance on family or services that may not be affirming. These risks compound for people with cognitive disability, psychosocial disability, communication disability, acquired brain injury, autism, chronic illness, sensory disability, physical disability, intellectual disability or fluctuating support needs.

A government policy that appears neutral can still produce unequal effects if it assumes that everyone has a safe family, accessible transport, financial resources, digital literacy, a supportive GP, a stable home, privacy over personal records, and the confidence or capacity to complain. For many LGBTQIA+ people with disability, these assumptions are unsafe. A person may rely on a carer who does not affirm their identity. They may require assistance to complete forms but not want to disclose sexuality or gender to the person assisting them. They may be misgendered in care, isolated in housing, denied sexuality education, or exposed to identity-based abuse inside disability services.

Recommended policy response Develop an accessible LGBTQIA+ disability housing and homelessness strategy covering crisis accommodation, transitional housing, social housing, private rental protections and chosen-family safety.

The recommended policy response should be implemented through the following actions:

• Fund accessible LGBTQIA+ crisis and transitional accommodation.
• Require disability-suitable options in LGBTQIA+ housing and LGBTQIA+-safe practice in disability housing.
• Prohibit discrimination and identity suppression by housing and homelessness providers receiving public funds.
• Include LGBTQIA+ disabled people in compact-housing, social housing and homelessness reform impact assessments.

Implementation levers

• Legislation and regulation: clarify positive duties, anti-discrimination protections, complaints pathways and provider obligations where the risk is rights-based.

• Funding agreements: require publicly funded services to demonstrate both disability access and LGBTQIA+ cultural safety.

• Commissioning and procurement: include lived-experience co-design, accessibility, privacy, trauma-informed practice and independent evaluation requirements.

• Data and reporting: collect safe, voluntary, privacy-protective intersectional data, and publish aggregate service- improvement findings.

• Workforce capability: require training that addresses disability, sexuality, gender identity, sex characteristics, supported decision-making and safeguarding together.

• Independent oversight: include complaints, audits, peer review and escalation pathways that are accessible, identity-safe and protected against retaliation.

Disability-specific considerations The disability-specific dimension must remain central. A policy that is LGBTQIA+ inclusive but inaccessible will still fail. A policy that is disability-inclusive but identity-blind will also fail. Reasonable adjustment, supported decision making, communication access, physical access, digital accessibility, sensory safety, interpreter access, Auslan, Easy Read, trauma-informed practice and privacy controls should be treated as core design requirements, not optional enhancements.

Ministerial position The Minister can support the principle that no person should be required to choose which part of themselves a public service is prepared to recognise. A credible policy response should recognise LGBTQIA+ people with disability as a defined priority cohort, fund the organisations and peer leaders who understand the intersection, and place measurable duties on mainstream systems rather than leaving individuals to navigate exclusion after harm has occurred.

Suggested decision That the Minister agree to seek departmental advice on the feasibility, cost, governance and implementation pathway for the proposed policy response, including consultation with LGBTQIA+ people with disability and relevant representative organisations.

Selected sources Australian Human Rights Commission, Stats and Facts: LGBTIQA+ rights, 2025. Includes national facts on LGBTIQA+ rights, including homelessness. https://humanrights.gov.au/human-rights-education/stats-and-facts-about discrimination/statistics-about-lgbtiqa-rights

People with Disability Australia, PWDA launches national survey for LGBTQIA+ people with disability, 2025. National lived-experience evidence-gathering across identity, healthcare, safety, services, work and ageing. https://pwd.org.au/pwda-launches-national-survey-for-lgbtqia-people-with-disability/

Disability Royal Commission, Violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of LGBTQA+ people with disability,

2022. Research identifying higher rates of violence, abuse, neglect and discrimination among LGBTQA+ people with disability. https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/violence-abuse-neglect-and-exploitation-lgbtqa people-disability

Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, National Action Plan for the Health and

Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035. National approach to LGBTIQA+ health and wellbeing over 2025

2035. https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/national-action-plan-for-the-health-and-wellbeing-of-lgbtiqa- people-2025-2035?language=en

Australian Institute of Family Studies, Supporting LGBTQ+ young people with disability: What service providers need to know, 2026. Evidence and practice guidance on harassment, bullying, sexual assault, poor mental health, self-harm and suicide risks for LGBTQ+ young people with disability. https://aifs.gov.au/resources/policy-and practice-papers/supporting-lgbtq-young-people-disability-what-service

Two-Page Ministerial Brief

Field Content

Issue LGBTQIA+ Disability Housing and Homelessness

Strategy

Decision sought Agree to develop a targeted LGBTQIA+ disability policy response and consult relevant representative organisations. Lead policy frame Develop an accessible LGBTQIA+ disability housing and homelessness strategy covering crisis accommodation, transitional housing, social housing, private rental protections and chosen-family safety. Risk rating High where reform affects safety, housing, care, health access, decision-making, data, justice or service eligibility.

Problem

LGBTQIA+ disabled people may face family rejection, unsafe share housing, inaccessible homelessness services, discrimination by providers and housing models that cannot accommodate support, equipment or identity safety.

The policy gap arises because disability and LGBTQIA+ policy are often designed in parallel. People living at the intersection encounter both sets of barriers at once, but service systems frequently respond to only one.

Why it matters now

• Current reforms across disability, health, housing, aged care, employment and digital government create implementation risks for people with complex access and identity-safety needs.

• Recent research and sector evidence show elevated exposure to harassment, abuse, poor mental health, service discrimination and invisibility in data.

• Government can prevent harm by embedding intersectional safeguards at design stage rather than relying on individual complaints after exclusion occurs.

Recommended actions

• Fund accessible LGBTQIA+ crisis and transitional accommodation.
• Require disability-suitable options in LGBTQIA+ housing and LGBTQIA+-safe practice in disability housing.
• Prohibit discrimination and identity suppression by housing and homelessness providers receiving public funds.
• Include LGBTQIA+ disabled people in compact-housing, social housing and homelessness reform impact assessments.

Suggested talking points

• LGBTQIA+ people with disability should not have to choose between identity safety and disability access.

• A general inclusion statement is not enough if the service pathway remains inaccessible, unsafe or dependent on disclosure to unsupportive people.

• Government should fund and govern policy through people with lived experience, not merely consult them after decisions are made.

• The proposed policy strengthens mainstream systems by making risk visible before harm occurs.

Immediate next steps

1. Commission a short departmental options paper within 30 days.
2. Convene a lived-experience roundtable with LGBTQIA+ disabled people and representative organisations.
3. Map existing funding, programs and regulatory levers.
4. Prepare a costed implementation plan with annual public reporting.

Inclusive Aged Care for Older LGBTQIA+ People

with Disability

LGBTQIA+ People with Disability Policy Risk Pack

Prepared for ministerial, departmental, parliamentary and stakeholder advocacy. Date: 8 July 2026.

Contents: full policy brief; two-page ministerial brief; source list.

Full Policy Brief

Field Content

To Minister / Shadow Minister / Parliamentary or

Departmental Stakeholder

From Andrew Hartwell

Date 8 July 2026

Subject Inclusive Aged Care for Older LGBTQIA+ People with

Disability

Purpose

This brief proposes a policy response to the risk issue: Inclusive Aged Care for Older LGBTQIA+ People with Disability. The proposed policy is to require aged care systems to recognise sexuality, gender identity, sex characteristics, disability access, chosen family, trauma history and gender-affirming personal care. The brief is intended for ministerial, departmental and parliamentary advocacy and can be adapted for federal, state or territory use.

Core risk Older LGBTQIA+ disabled people may re-enter the closet, lose chosen-family support, be misgendered, face faith based hostility, or have sexuality treated as inappropriate because they are older or disabled.

The common structural problem is that LGBTQIA+ people with disability are often treated as too complex for standard policy categories. Disability systems may assume a person whose sexuality, gender identity or sex characteristics are irrelevant. LGBTQIA+ systems may assume a non-disabled person who can navigate services independently, travel easily, communicate without adjustment and safely disclose identity. Mainstream systems may assume that a general equality statement is enough. In practice, the result is a gap between rights on paper and access in daily life.

Current policy and evidence context The current policy context supports urgent action. Australia’s National Action Plan for the Health and Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035 provides a national framework for LGBTIQA+ health equity, while Australia’s disability policy architecture continues to respond to the Disability Royal Commission, NDIS reform, accessible housing, safeguarding and mainstream service obligations. Recent research and sector material also show that LGBTQIA+ people with disability experience distinctive risks across health care, safety, services, work, ageing, family relationships, education, data visibility and community participation.

Evidence base Why it matters Australian Institute of Family Studies, The abuse and 2026 research snapshot on abuse and mistreatment of mistreatment of LGBTIQA+ older people, 2026 older LGBTIQA+ people. Australian Government Department of Health, Disability National approach to LGBTIQA+ health and wellbeing and Ageing, National Action Plan for the Health and over 2025-2035. Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035

Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Final report with recommendations on violence, abuse, Exploitation of People with Disability, Final Report, neglect and exploitation. 2023 Disability Royal Commission, Violence, abuse, neglect Research identifying higher rates of violence, abuse, and exploitation of LGBTQA+ people with disability, neglect and discrimination among LGBTQA+ people 2022 with disability. LGBTIQ+ Health Australia, Budget Submission 2026-27 Community-led proposals for investment in LGBTIQ+ health, wellbeing, intersex human rights and disability inclusion.

Policy risk analysis The key risk is not limited to direct discrimination. It includes policy invisibility, underfunding, system fragmentation, poor data, unsafe disclosure, exclusion by design, and reliance on family or services that may not be affirming. These risks compound for people with cognitive disability, psychosocial disability, communication disability, acquired brain injury, autism, chronic illness, sensory disability, physical disability, intellectual disability or fluctuating support needs.

A government policy that appears neutral can still produce unequal effects if it assumes that everyone has a safe family, accessible transport, financial resources, digital literacy, a supportive GP, a stable home, privacy over personal records, and the confidence or capacity to complain. For many LGBTQIA+ people with disability, these assumptions are unsafe. A person may rely on a carer who does not affirm their identity. They may require assistance to complete forms but not want to disclose sexuality or gender to the person assisting them. They may be misgendered in care, isolated in housing, denied sexuality education, or exposed to identity-based abuse inside disability services.

Recommended policy response Require aged care systems to recognise sexuality, gender identity, sex characteristics, disability access, chosen family, trauma history and gender-affirming personal care.

The recommended policy response should be implemented through the following actions:

• Embed LGBTQIA+ disability requirements in aged care standards, audits and complaints.

• Recognise partners, chosen family and nominated support people in care planning.

• Require gender-affirming personal care and privacy safeguards.

• Fund peer navigation for older LGBTQIA+ disabled people moving between NDIS, aged care and health systems. Implementation levers

• Legislation and regulation: clarify positive duties, anti-discrimination protections, complaints pathways and provider obligations where the risk is rights-based.

• Funding agreements: require publicly funded services to demonstrate both disability access and LGBTQIA+ cultural safety.

• Commissioning and procurement: include lived-experience co-design, accessibility, privacy, trauma-informed practice and independent evaluation requirements.

• Data and reporting: collect safe, voluntary, privacy-protective intersectional data, and publish aggregate service- improvement findings.

• Workforce capability: require training that addresses disability, sexuality, gender identity, sex characteristics, supported decision-making and safeguarding together.

• Independent oversight: include complaints, audits, peer review and escalation pathways that are accessible, identity-safe and protected against retaliation.

Disability-specific considerations The disability-specific dimension must remain central. A policy that is LGBTQIA+ inclusive but inaccessible will still fail. A policy that is disability-inclusive but identity-blind will also fail. Reasonable adjustment, supported decision making, communication access, physical access, digital accessibility, sensory safety, interpreter access, Auslan, Easy Read, trauma-informed practice and privacy controls should be treated as core design requirements, not optional enhancements.

Ministerial position The Minister can support the principle that no person should be required to choose which part of themselves a public service is prepared to recognise. A credible policy response should recognise LGBTQIA+ people with disability as a defined priority cohort, fund the organisations and peer leaders who understand the intersection, and place measurable duties on mainstream systems rather than leaving individuals to navigate exclusion after harm has occurred.

Suggested decision That the Minister agree to seek departmental advice on the feasibility, cost, governance and implementation pathway for the proposed policy response, including consultation with LGBTQIA+ people with disability and relevant representative organisations.

Selected sources Australian Institute of Family Studies, The abuse and mistreatment of LGBTIQA+ older people, 2026. 2026 research snapshot on abuse and mistreatment of older LGBTIQA+ people. https://aifs.gov.au/all-research/research snapshots/abuse-and-mistreatment-lgbtiqa-older-people

Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, National Action Plan for the Health and

Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035. National approach to LGBTIQA+ health and wellbeing over 2025

2035. https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/national-action-plan-for-the-health-and-wellbeing-of-lgbtiqa- people-2025-2035?language=en

Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability, Final Report, 2023. Final report with recommendations on violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation. https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/final-report

Disability Royal Commission, Violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of LGBTQA+ people with disability,

2022. Research identifying higher rates of violence, abuse, neglect and discrimination among LGBTQA+ people with disability. https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/violence-abuse-neglect-and-exploitation-lgbtqa people-disability

LGBTIQ+ Health Australia, Budget Submission 2026-27. Community-led proposals for investment in LGBTIQ+ health, wellbeing, intersex human rights and disability inclusion. https://www.lgbtiqhealth.org.au/lha_budget_submission_2026-27

Two-Page Ministerial Brief

Field Content

Issue Inclusive Aged Care for Older LGBTQIA+ People with

Disability

Decision sought Agree to develop a targeted LGBTQIA+ disability policy response and consult relevant representative organisations. Lead policy frame Require aged care systems to recognise sexuality, gender identity, sex characteristics, disability access, chosen family, trauma history and gender-affirming personal care. Risk rating High where reform affects safety, housing, care, health access, decision-making, data, justice or service eligibility.

Problem

Older LGBTQIA+ disabled people may re-enter the closet, lose chosen-family support, be misgendered, face faith based hostility, or have sexuality treated as inappropriate because they are older or disabled.

The policy gap arises because disability and LGBTQIA+ policy are often designed in parallel. People living at the intersection encounter both sets of barriers at once, but service systems frequently respond to only one.

Why it matters now

• Current reforms across disability, health, housing, aged care, employment and digital government create implementation risks for people with complex access and identity-safety needs.

• Recent research and sector evidence show elevated exposure to harassment, abuse, poor mental health, service discrimination and invisibility in data.

• Government can prevent harm by embedding intersectional safeguards at design stage rather than relying on individual complaints after exclusion occurs.

Recommended actions

• Embed LGBTQIA+ disability requirements in aged care standards, audits and complaints.

• Recognise partners, chosen family and nominated support people in care planning.

• Require gender-affirming personal care and privacy safeguards.

• Fund peer navigation for older LGBTQIA+ disabled people moving between NDIS, aged care and health systems. Suggested talking points

• LGBTQIA+ people with disability should not have to choose between identity safety and disability access.

• A general inclusion statement is not enough if the service pathway remains inaccessible, unsafe or dependent on disclosure to unsupportive people.

• Government should fund and govern policy through people with lived experience, not merely consult them after decisions are made.

• The proposed policy strengthens mainstream systems by making risk visible before harm occurs. Immediate next steps

1. Commission a short departmental options paper within 30 days.
2. Convene a lived-experience roundtable with LGBTQIA+ disabled people and representative organisations.

3. Map existing funding, programs and regulatory levers.
4. Prepare a costed implementation plan with annual public reporting.

Chosen Family, Support Networks and Decision-

Making Rights

LGBTQIA+ People with Disability Policy Risk Pack

Prepared for ministerial, departmental, parliamentary and stakeholder advocacy. Date: 8 July 2026.

Contents: full policy brief; two-page ministerial brief; source list.

Full Policy Brief

Field Content

To Minister / Shadow Minister / Parliamentary or

Departmental Stakeholder

From Andrew Hartwell

Date 8 July 2026

Subject Chosen Family, Support Networks and Decision-Making

Rights

Purpose

This brief proposes a policy response to the risk issue: Chosen Family, Support Networks and Decision-Making Rights. The proposed policy is to create a cross-system chosen-family and supported decision-making framework for LGBTQIA+ people with disability across health, disability, NDIS, aged care, housing, emergency and justice systems. The brief is intended for ministerial, departmental and parliamentary advocacy and can be adapted for federal, state or territory use.

Core risk Services commonly default to biological family even where biological family is estranged, unsafe, controlling, homophobic, transphobic or otherwise unsuitable.

The common structural problem is that LGBTQIA+ people with disability are often treated as too complex for standard policy categories. Disability systems may assume a person whose sexuality, gender identity or sex characteristics are irrelevant. LGBTQIA+ systems may assume a non-disabled person who can navigate services independently, travel easily, communicate without adjustment and safely disclose identity. Mainstream systems may assume that a general equality statement is enough. In practice, the result is a gap between rights on paper and access in daily life.

Current policy and evidence context The current policy context supports urgent action. Australia’s National Action Plan for the Health and Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035 provides a national framework for LGBTIQA+ health equity, while Australia’s disability policy architecture continues to respond to the Disability Royal Commission, NDIS reform, accessible housing, safeguarding and mainstream service obligations. Recent research and sector material also show that LGBTQIA+ people with disability experience distinctive risks across health care, safety, services, work, ageing, family relationships, education, data visibility and community participation.

Evidence base Why it matters Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Final report with recommendations on violence, abuse, Exploitation of People with Disability, Final Report, neglect and exploitation. 2023 Australian Government Department of Health, Disability National approach to LGBTIQA+ health and wellbeing

and Ageing, National Action Plan for the Health and over 2025-2035. Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035 People with Disability Australia, PWDA launches National lived-experience evidence-gathering across national survey for LGBTQIA+ people with disability, identity, healthcare, safety, services, work and ageing. 2025 Australian Institute of Family Studies, The abuse and 2026 research snapshot on abuse and mistreatment of mistreatment of LGBTIQA+ older people, 2026 older LGBTIQA+ people. Australian Human Rights Commission, Trans and gender Explainer on laws, systems and policies protecting trans diverse people’s rights in Australia, 2026 and gender diverse people.

Policy risk analysis The key risk is not limited to direct discrimination. It includes policy invisibility, underfunding, system fragmentation, poor data, unsafe disclosure, exclusion by design, and reliance on family or services that may not be affirming. These risks compound for people with cognitive disability, psychosocial disability, communication disability, acquired brain injury, autism, chronic illness, sensory disability, physical disability, intellectual disability or fluctuating support needs.

A government policy that appears neutral can still produce unequal effects if it assumes that everyone has a safe family, accessible transport, financial resources, digital literacy, a supportive GP, a stable home, privacy over personal records, and the confidence or capacity to complain. For many LGBTQIA+ people with disability, these assumptions are unsafe. A person may rely on a carer who does not affirm their identity. They may require assistance to complete forms but not want to disclose sexuality or gender to the person assisting them. They may be misgendered in care, isolated in housing, denied sexuality education, or exposed to identity-based abuse inside disability services.

Recommended policy response Create a cross-system chosen-family and supported decision-making framework for LGBTQIA+ people with disability across health, disability, NDIS, aged care, housing, emergency and justice systems.

The recommended policy response should be implemented through the following actions:

• Recognise nominated support people and chosen family across public forms, records and care planning.
• Embed supported decision-making rather than substitute decision-making wherever possible.
• Protect privacy where identity disclosure could increase risk.
• Require hospitals, NDIS planners, aged care assessors and housing providers to verify who the person wants involved.

Implementation levers

• Legislation and regulation: clarify positive duties, anti-discrimination protections, complaints pathways and provider obligations where the risk is rights-based.

• Funding agreements: require publicly funded services to demonstrate both disability access and LGBTQIA+ cultural safety.

• Commissioning and procurement: include lived-experience co-design, accessibility, privacy, trauma-informed practice and independent evaluation requirements.

• Data and reporting: collect safe, voluntary, privacy-protective intersectional data, and publish aggregate service- improvement findings.

• Workforce capability: require training that addresses disability, sexuality, gender identity, sex characteristics, supported decision-making and safeguarding together.

• Independent oversight: include complaints, audits, peer review and escalation pathways that are accessible, identity-safe and protected against retaliation.

Disability-specific considerations The disability-specific dimension must remain central. A policy that is LGBTQIA+ inclusive but inaccessible will still fail. A policy that is disability-inclusive but identity-blind will also fail. Reasonable adjustment, supported decision making, communication access, physical access, digital accessibility, sensory safety, interpreter access, Auslan, Easy Read, trauma-informed practice and privacy controls should be treated as core design requirements, not optional enhancements.

Ministerial position The Minister can support the principle that no person should be required to choose which part of themselves a public service is prepared to recognise. A credible policy response should recognise LGBTQIA+ people with disability as a defined priority cohort, fund the organisations and peer leaders who understand the intersection, and place measurable duties on mainstream systems rather than leaving individuals to navigate exclusion after harm has occurred.

Suggested decision That the Minister agree to seek departmental advice on the feasibility, cost, governance and implementation pathway for the proposed policy response, including consultation with LGBTQIA+ people with disability and relevant representative organisations.

Selected sources Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability, Final Report, 2023. Final report with recommendations on violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation. https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/final-report

Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, National Action Plan for the Health and

Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035. National approach to LGBTIQA+ health and wellbeing over 2025

2035. https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/national-action-plan-for-the-health-and-wellbeing-of-lgbtiqa- people-2025-2035?language=en

People with Disability Australia, PWDA launches national survey for LGBTQIA+ people with disability, 2025. National lived-experience evidence-gathering across identity, healthcare, safety, services, work and ageing. https://pwd.org.au/pwda-launches-national-survey-for-lgbtqia-people-with-disability/

Australian Institute of Family Studies, The abuse and mistreatment of LGBTIQA+ older people, 2026. 2026 research snapshot on abuse and mistreatment of older LGBTIQA+ people. https://aifs.gov.au/all-research/research snapshots/abuse-and-mistreatment-lgbtiqa-older-people

Australian Human Rights Commission, Trans and gender diverse people’s rights in Australia, 2026. Explainer on laws, systems and policies protecting trans and gender diverse people. https://humanrights.gov.au/know-your rights/rights-of-individuals/lgbtiq-rights/trans-and-gender-diverse-rights-in-australia/explainer-trans-and-gender diverse-peoples-rights-in-australia

Two-Page Ministerial Brief

Field Content

Issue Chosen Family, Support Networks and Decision-Making

Rights

Decision sought Agree to develop a targeted LGBTQIA+ disability policy response and consult relevant representative organisations. Lead policy frame Create a cross-system chosen-family and supported decision-making framework for LGBTQIA+ people with disability across health, disability, NDIS, aged care, housing, emergency and justice systems. Risk rating High where reform affects safety, housing, care, health access, decision-making, data, justice or service eligibility.

Problem

Services commonly default to biological family even where biological family is estranged, unsafe, controlling, homophobic, transphobic or otherwise unsuitable.

The policy gap arises because disability and LGBTQIA+ policy are often designed in parallel. People living at the intersection encounter both sets of barriers at once, but service systems frequently respond to only one.

Why it matters now

• Current reforms across disability, health, housing, aged care, employment and digital government create implementation risks for people with complex access and identity-safety needs.

• Recent research and sector evidence show elevated exposure to harassment, abuse, poor mental health, service discrimination and invisibility in data.

• Government can prevent harm by embedding intersectional safeguards at design stage rather than relying on individual complaints after exclusion occurs.

Recommended actions

• Recognise nominated support people and chosen family across public forms, records and care planning.
• Embed supported decision-making rather than substitute decision-making wherever possible.
• Protect privacy where identity disclosure could increase risk.
• Require hospitals, NDIS planners, aged care assessors and housing providers to verify who the person wants involved.

Suggested talking points

• LGBTQIA+ people with disability should not have to choose between identity safety and disability access.

• A general inclusion statement is not enough if the service pathway remains inaccessible, unsafe or dependent on disclosure to unsupportive people.

• Government should fund and govern policy through people with lived experience, not merely consult them after decisions are made.

• The proposed policy strengthens mainstream systems by making risk visible before harm occurs.

Immediate next steps

1. Commission a short departmental options paper within 30 days.
2. Convene a lived-experience roundtable with LGBTQIA+ disabled people and representative organisations.
3. Map existing funding, programs and regulatory levers.
4. Prepare a costed implementation plan with annual public reporting.

LGBTQIA+ Disability Mental Health and Suicide

Prevention Package

LGBTQIA+ People with Disability Policy Risk Pack

Prepared for ministerial, departmental, parliamentary and stakeholder advocacy. Date: 8 July 2026.

Contents: full policy brief; two-page ministerial brief; source list.

Full Policy Brief

Field Content

To Minister / Shadow Minister / Parliamentary or

Departmental Stakeholder

From Andrew Hartwell

Date 8 July 2026

Subject LGBTQIA+ Disability Mental Health and Suicide

Prevention Package

Purpose

This brief proposes a policy response to the risk issue: LGBTQIA+ Disability Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Package. The proposed policy is to fund community-led, disability-accessible LGBTQIA+ mental health and suicide prevention services, including peer navigation, regional outreach and long-term psychosocial supports. The brief is intended for ministerial, departmental and parliamentary advocacy and can be adapted for federal, state or territory use.

Core risk Poor mental health, self-harm and suicide risk are often produced by exclusion, bullying, family rejection, service hostility, poverty, unsafe housing and policy instability rather than identity itself.

The common structural problem is that LGBTQIA+ people with disability are often treated as too complex for standard policy categories. Disability systems may assume a person whose sexuality, gender identity or sex characteristics are irrelevant. LGBTQIA+ systems may assume a non-disabled person who can navigate services independently, travel easily, communicate without adjustment and safely disclose identity. Mainstream systems may assume that a general equality statement is enough. In practice, the result is a gap between rights on paper and access in daily life.

Current policy and evidence context The current policy context supports urgent action. Australia’s National Action Plan for the Health and Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035 provides a national framework for LGBTIQA+ health equity, while Australia’s disability policy architecture continues to respond to the Disability Royal Commission, NDIS reform, accessible housing, safeguarding and mainstream service obligations. Recent research and sector material also show that LGBTQIA+ people with disability experience distinctive risks across health care, safety, services, work, ageing, family relationships, education, data visibility and community participation.

Evidence base Why it matters Australian Institute of Family Studies, Supporting Evidence and practice guidance on harassment, bullying, LGBTQ+ young people with disability: What service sexual assault, poor mental health, self-harm and suicide providers need to know, 2026 risks for LGBTQ+ young people with disability. Australian Government Department of Health, Disability National approach to LGBTIQA+ health and wellbeing and Ageing, National Action Plan for the Health and over 2025-2035.

Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035 LGBTIQ+ Health Australia, Budget Submission 2026-27 Community-led proposals for investment in LGBTIQ+ health, wellbeing, intersex human rights and disability inclusion. People with Disability Australia, PWDA put queer Reports survey findings including discrimination by disabled people In Focus at Mardi Gras, 2026 healthcare workers, support workers, carers or family members, and identity being ignored or not believed. Disability Royal Commission, Violence, abuse, neglect Research identifying higher rates of violence, abuse, and exploitation of LGBTQA+ people with disability, neglect and discrimination among LGBTQA+ people 2022 with disability.

Policy risk analysis The key risk is not limited to direct discrimination. It includes policy invisibility, underfunding, system fragmentation, poor data, unsafe disclosure, exclusion by design, and reliance on family or services that may not be affirming. These risks compound for people with cognitive disability, psychosocial disability, communication disability, acquired brain injury, autism, chronic illness, sensory disability, physical disability, intellectual disability or fluctuating support needs.

A government policy that appears neutral can still produce unequal effects if it assumes that everyone has a safe family, accessible transport, financial resources, digital literacy, a supportive GP, a stable home, privacy over personal records, and the confidence or capacity to complain. For many LGBTQIA+ people with disability, these assumptions are unsafe. A person may rely on a carer who does not affirm their identity. They may require assistance to complete forms but not want to disclose sexuality or gender to the person assisting them. They may be misgendered in care, isolated in housing, denied sexuality education, or exposed to identity-based abuse inside disability services.

Recommended policy response Fund community-led, disability-accessible LGBTQIA+ mental health and suicide prevention services, including peer navigation, regional outreach and long-term psychosocial supports.

The recommended policy response should be implemented through the following actions:

• Fund LGBTQIA+ disability-specific mental health services and peer support.
• Require mainstream mental health services to meet disability access and LGBTQIA+ safety standards.
• Ensure NDIS and non-NDIS psychosocial supports include LGBTQIA+ disability competence.
• Create suicide-prevention pathways for young people, autistic people, people with psychosocial disability, trans and gender-diverse people, and regional communities.

Implementation levers

• Legislation and regulation: clarify positive duties, anti-discrimination protections, complaints pathways and provider obligations where the risk is rights-based.

• Funding agreements: require publicly funded services to demonstrate both disability access and LGBTQIA+ cultural safety.

• Commissioning and procurement: include lived-experience co-design, accessibility, privacy, trauma-informed practice and independent evaluation requirements.

• Data and reporting: collect safe, voluntary, privacy-protective intersectional data, and publish aggregate service- improvement findings.

• Workforce capability: require training that addresses disability, sexuality, gender identity, sex characteristics, supported decision-making and safeguarding together.

• Independent oversight: include complaints, audits, peer review and escalation pathways that are accessible, identity-safe and protected against retaliation.

Disability-specific considerations The disability-specific dimension must remain central. A policy that is LGBTQIA+ inclusive but inaccessible will still fail. A policy that is disability-inclusive but identity-blind will also fail. Reasonable adjustment, supported decision making, communication access, physical access, digital accessibility, sensory safety, interpreter access, Auslan, Easy Read, trauma-informed practice and privacy controls should be treated as core design requirements, not optional enhancements.

Ministerial position The Minister can support the principle that no person should be required to choose which part of themselves a public service is prepared to recognise. A credible policy response should recognise LGBTQIA+ people with disability as a defined priority cohort, fund the organisations and peer leaders who understand the intersection, and place measurable duties on mainstream systems rather than leaving individuals to navigate exclusion after harm has occurred.

Suggested decision That the Minister agree to seek departmental advice on the feasibility, cost, governance and implementation pathway for the proposed policy response, including consultation with LGBTQIA+ people with disability and relevant representative organisations.

Selected sources Australian Institute of Family Studies, Supporting LGBTQ+ young people with disability: What service providers need to know, 2026. Evidence and practice guidance on harassment, bullying, sexual assault, poor mental health, self-harm and suicide risks for LGBTQ+ young people with disability. https://aifs.gov.au/resources/policy-and practice-papers/supporting-lgbtq-young-people-disability-what-service

Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, National Action Plan for the Health and

Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035. National approach to LGBTIQA+ health and wellbeing over 2025

2035. https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/national-action-plan-for-the-health-and-wellbeing-of-lgbtiqa- people-2025-2035?language=en

LGBTIQ+ Health Australia, Budget Submission 2026-27. Community-led proposals for investment in LGBTIQ+ health, wellbeing, intersex human rights and disability inclusion. https://www.lgbtiqhealth.org.au/lha_budget_submission_2026-27

People with Disability Australia, PWDA put queer disabled people In Focus at Mardi Gras, 2026. Reports survey findings including discrimination by healthcare workers, support workers, carers or family members, and identity being ignored or not believed. https://pwd.org.au/pwda-put-queer-disabled-people-in-focus-at-mardi-gras/

Disability Royal Commission, Violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of LGBTQA+ people with disability,

2022. Research identifying higher rates of violence, abuse, neglect and discrimination among LGBTQA+ people with disability. https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/violence-abuse-neglect-and-exploitation-lgbtqa people-disability

Two-Page Ministerial Brief

Field Content

Issue LGBTQIA+ Disability Mental Health and Suicide

Prevention Package

Decision sought Agree to develop a targeted LGBTQIA+ disability policy response and consult relevant representative organisations. Lead policy frame Fund community-led, disability-accessible LGBTQIA+ mental health and suicide prevention services, including peer navigation, regional outreach and long-term psychosocial supports. Risk rating High where reform affects safety, housing, care, health access, decision-making, data, justice or service eligibility.

Problem

Poor mental health, self-harm and suicide risk are often produced by exclusion, bullying, family rejection, service hostility, poverty, unsafe housing and policy instability rather than identity itself.

The policy gap arises because disability and LGBTQIA+ policy are often designed in parallel. People living at the intersection encounter both sets of barriers at once, but service systems frequently respond to only one.

Why it matters now

• Current reforms across disability, health, housing, aged care, employment and digital government create implementation risks for people with complex access and identity-safety needs.

• Recent research and sector evidence show elevated exposure to harassment, abuse, poor mental health, service discrimination and invisibility in data.

• Government can prevent harm by embedding intersectional safeguards at design stage rather than relying on individual complaints after exclusion occurs.

Recommended actions

• Fund LGBTQIA+ disability-specific mental health services and peer support.
• Require mainstream mental health services to meet disability access and LGBTQIA+ safety standards.
• Ensure NDIS and non-NDIS psychosocial supports include LGBTQIA+ disability competence.
• Create suicide-prevention pathways for young people, autistic people, people with psychosocial disability, trans and gender-diverse people, and regional communities.

Suggested talking points

• LGBTQIA+ people with disability should not have to choose between identity safety and disability access.

• A general inclusion statement is not enough if the service pathway remains inaccessible, unsafe or dependent on disclosure to unsupportive people.

• Government should fund and govern policy through people with lived experience, not merely consult them after decisions are made.

• The proposed policy strengthens mainstream systems by making risk visible before harm occurs.

Immediate next steps

1. Commission a short departmental options paper within 30 days.
2. Convene a lived-experience roundtable with LGBTQIA+ disabled people and representative organisations.
3. Map existing funding, programs and regulatory levers.
4. Prepare a costed implementation plan with annual public reporting.

Inclusive Schools and Transition-to-Adulthood Policy

LGBTQIA+ People with Disability Policy Risk Pack

Prepared for ministerial, departmental, parliamentary and stakeholder advocacy. Date: 8 July 2026.

Contents: full policy brief; two-page ministerial brief; source list.

Full Policy Brief

Field Content

To Minister / Shadow Minister / Parliamentary or

Departmental Stakeholder

From Andrew Hartwell

Date 8 July 2026

Subject Inclusive Schools and Transition-to-Adulthood Policy

Purpose

This brief proposes a policy response to the risk issue: Inclusive Schools and Transition-to-Adulthood Policy. The proposed policy is to integrate disability inclusion and LGBTQIA+ safety in schools, TAFE, universities and transition supports, including adjustments, respectful relationships education and post-school pathways. The brief is intended for ministerial, departmental and parliamentary advocacy and can be adapted for federal, state or territory use.

Core risk LGBTQIA+ students with disability may be bullied, denied adjustments, excluded from sexuality education, punished for gender expression or left unsupported in the transition to adulthood.

The common structural problem is that LGBTQIA+ people with disability are often treated as too complex for standard policy categories. Disability systems may assume a person whose sexuality, gender identity or sex characteristics are irrelevant. LGBTQIA+ systems may assume a non-disabled person who can navigate services independently, travel easily, communicate without adjustment and safely disclose identity. Mainstream systems may assume that a general equality statement is enough. In practice, the result is a gap between rights on paper and access in daily life.

Current policy and evidence context The current policy context supports urgent action. Australia’s National Action Plan for the Health and Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035 provides a national framework for LGBTIQA+ health equity, while Australia’s disability policy architecture continues to respond to the Disability Royal Commission, NDIS reform, accessible housing, safeguarding and mainstream service obligations. Recent research and sector material also show that LGBTQIA+ people with disability experience distinctive risks across health care, safety, services, work, ageing, family relationships, education, data visibility and community participation.

Evidence base Why it matters Australian Institute of Family Studies, Supporting Evidence and practice guidance on harassment, bullying, LGBTQ+ young people with disability: What service sexual assault, poor mental health, self-harm and suicide providers need to know, 2026 risks for LGBTQ+ young people with disability. Disability Royal Commission, Violence, abuse, neglect Research identifying higher rates of violence, abuse, and exploitation of LGBTQA+ people with disability, neglect and discrimination among LGBTQA+ people 2022 with disability. La Trobe University, Research report on violence, abuse, Secondary analysis of Private Lives 3 and Writing neglect and exploitation of LGBTQA+ people with Themselves In 4. disability, 2022

Australian Government Department of Health, Disability National approach to LGBTIQA+ health and wellbeing and Ageing, National Action Plan for the Health and over 2025-2035. Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035

Policy risk analysis The key risk is not limited to direct discrimination. It includes policy invisibility, underfunding, system fragmentation, poor data, unsafe disclosure, exclusion by design, and reliance on family or services that may not be affirming. These risks compound for people with cognitive disability, psychosocial disability, communication disability, acquired brain injury, autism, chronic illness, sensory disability, physical disability, intellectual disability or fluctuating support needs.

A government policy that appears neutral can still produce unequal effects if it assumes that everyone has a safe family, accessible transport, financial resources, digital literacy, a supportive GP, a stable home, privacy over personal records, and the confidence or capacity to complain. For many LGBTQIA+ people with disability, these assumptions are unsafe. A person may rely on a carer who does not affirm their identity. They may require assistance to complete forms but not want to disclose sexuality or gender to the person assisting them. They may be misgendered in care, isolated in housing, denied sexuality education, or exposed to identity-based abuse inside disability services.

Recommended policy response Integrate disability inclusion and LGBTQIA+ safety in schools, TAFE, universities and transition supports, including adjustments, respectful relationships education and post-school pathways.

The recommended policy response should be implemented through the following actions:

• Require school inclusion plans to address both disability and LGBTQIA+ safety.
• Provide accessible respectful relationships and consent education.
• Fund transition navigation into further education, employment, housing and disability supports.
• Ensure gender affirmation protocols include students with cognitive, communication, psychosocial and neurodevelopmental disability.

Implementation levers

• Legislation and regulation: clarify positive duties, anti-discrimination protections, complaints pathways and provider obligations where the risk is rights-based.

• Funding agreements: require publicly funded services to demonstrate both disability access and LGBTQIA+ cultural safety.

• Commissioning and procurement: include lived-experience co-design, accessibility, privacy, trauma-informed practice and independent evaluation requirements.

• Data and reporting: collect safe, voluntary, privacy-protective intersectional data, and publish aggregate service- improvement findings.

• Workforce capability: require training that addresses disability, sexuality, gender identity, sex characteristics, supported decision-making and safeguarding together.

• Independent oversight: include complaints, audits, peer review and escalation pathways that are accessible, identity-safe and protected against retaliation.

Disability-specific considerations The disability-specific dimension must remain central. A policy that is LGBTQIA+ inclusive but inaccessible will still fail. A policy that is disability-inclusive but identity-blind will also fail. Reasonable adjustment, supported decision making, communication access, physical access, digital accessibility, sensory safety, interpreter access, Auslan, Easy Read, trauma-informed practice and privacy controls should be treated as core design requirements, not optional enhancements.

Ministerial position The Minister can support the principle that no person should be required to choose which part of themselves a public service is prepared to recognise. A credible policy response should recognise LGBTQIA+ people with disability as a defined priority cohort, fund the organisations and peer leaders who understand the intersection, and place measurable duties on mainstream systems rather than leaving individuals to navigate exclusion after harm has occurred.

Suggested decision That the Minister agree to seek departmental advice on the feasibility, cost, governance and implementation pathway for the proposed policy response, including consultation with LGBTQIA+ people with disability and relevant representative organisations.

Selected sources Australian Institute of Family Studies, Supporting LGBTQ+ young people with disability: What service providers need to know, 2026. Evidence and practice guidance on harassment, bullying, sexual assault, poor mental health, self-harm and suicide risks for LGBTQ+ young people with disability. https://aifs.gov.au/resources/policy-and practice-papers/supporting-lgbtq-young-people-disability-what-service

Disability Royal Commission, Violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of LGBTQA+ people with disability,

2022. Research identifying higher rates of violence, abuse, neglect and discrimination among LGBTQA+ people with disability. https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/violence-abuse-neglect-and-exploitation-lgbtqa people-disability

La Trobe University, Research report on violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of LGBTQA+ people with disability, 2022. Secondary analysis of Private Lives 3 and Writing Themselves In 4. https://www.latrobe.edu.au/arcshs/work/lgbtiq-health/private-lives-3

Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, National Action Plan for the Health and

Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035. National approach to LGBTIQA+ health and wellbeing over 2025

2035. https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/national-action-plan-for-the-health-and-wellbeing-of-lgbtiqa- people-2025-2035?language=en

Two-Page Ministerial Brief

Field Content

Issue Inclusive Schools and Transition-to-Adulthood Policy

Decision sought Agree to develop a targeted LGBTQIA+ disability policy response and consult relevant representative organisations. Lead policy frame Integrate disability inclusion and LGBTQIA+ safety in schools, TAFE, universities and transition supports, including adjustments, respectful relationships education and post-school pathways.

Risk rating High where reform affects safety, housing, care, health access, decision-making, data, justice or service eligibility.

Problem

LGBTQIA+ students with disability may be bullied, denied adjustments, excluded from sexuality education, punished for gender expression or left unsupported in the transition to adulthood.

The policy gap arises because disability and LGBTQIA+ policy are often designed in parallel. People living at the intersection encounter both sets of barriers at once, but service systems frequently respond to only one.

Why it matters now

• Current reforms across disability, health, housing, aged care, employment and digital government create implementation risks for people with complex access and identity-safety needs.

• Recent research and sector evidence show elevated exposure to harassment, abuse, poor mental health, service discrimination and invisibility in data.

• Government can prevent harm by embedding intersectional safeguards at design stage rather than relying on individual complaints after exclusion occurs.

Recommended actions

• Require school inclusion plans to address both disability and LGBTQIA+ safety.
• Provide accessible respectful relationships and consent education.
• Fund transition navigation into further education, employment, housing and disability supports.
• Ensure gender affirmation protocols include students with cognitive, communication, psychosocial and neurodevelopmental disability.

Suggested talking points

• LGBTQIA+ people with disability should not have to choose between identity safety and disability access.

• A general inclusion statement is not enough if the service pathway remains inaccessible, unsafe or dependent on disclosure to unsupportive people.

• Government should fund and govern policy through people with lived experience, not merely consult them after decisions are made.

• The proposed policy strengthens mainstream systems by making risk visible before harm occurs. Immediate next steps

1. Commission a short departmental options paper within 30 days.
2. Convene a lived-experience roundtable with LGBTQIA+ disabled people and representative organisations.
3. Map existing funding, programs and regulatory levers.
4. Prepare a costed implementation plan with annual public reporting.

Disability-Inclusive Sexual and Reproductive Rights

Policy

LGBTQIA+ People with Disability Policy Risk Pack

Prepared for ministerial, departmental, parliamentary and stakeholder advocacy. Date: 8 July 2026.

Contents: full policy brief; two-page ministerial brief; source list.

Full Policy Brief

Field Content

To Minister / Shadow Minister / Parliamentary or

Departmental Stakeholder

From Andrew Hartwell

Date 8 July 2026

Subject Disability-Inclusive Sexual and Reproductive Rights

Policy

Purpose

This brief proposes a policy response to the risk issue: Disability-Inclusive Sexual and Reproductive Rights Policy. The proposed policy is to protect the sexual, reproductive, parenting and bodily-autonomy rights of LGBTQIA+ people with disability across health, NDIS, guardianship, education and safeguarding systems. The brief is intended for ministerial, departmental and parliamentary advocacy and can be adapted for federal, state or territory use.

Core risk Disabled people are often wrongly treated as asexual, incapable of consent, incapable of parenting or unsuitable for intimate autonomy; LGBTQIA+ disabled people face additional identity-based suppression.

The common structural problem is that LGBTQIA+ people with disability are often treated as too complex for standard policy categories. Disability systems may assume a person whose sexuality, gender identity or sex characteristics are irrelevant. LGBTQIA+ systems may assume a non-disabled person who can navigate services independently, travel easily, communicate without adjustment and safely disclose identity. Mainstream systems may assume that a general equality statement is enough. In practice, the result is a gap between rights on paper and access in daily life.

Current policy and evidence context The current policy context supports urgent action. Australia’s National Action Plan for the Health and Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035 provides a national framework for LGBTIQA+ health equity, while Australia’s disability policy architecture continues to respond to the Disability Royal Commission, NDIS reform, accessible housing, safeguarding and mainstream service obligations. Recent research and sector material also show that LGBTQIA+ people with disability experience distinctive risks across health care, safety, services, work, ageing, family relationships, education, data visibility and community participation.

Evidence base Why it matters Women With Disabilities Australia, Submission on Rights-based framing of sexual and reproductive rights sexual and reproductive rights for women and girls with disability. Australian Government Department of Health, Disability National approach to LGBTIQA+ health and wellbeing and Ageing, National Action Plan for the Health and over 2025-2035. Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035

Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Final report with recommendations on violence, abuse, Exploitation of People with Disability, Final Report, neglect and exploitation. 2023 Disability Royal Commission, Violence, abuse, neglect Research identifying higher rates of violence, abuse, and exploitation of LGBTQA+ people with disability, neglect and discrimination among LGBTQA+ people 2022 with disability. LGBTIQ+ Health Australia, Budget Submission 2026-27 Community-led proposals for investment in LGBTIQ+ health, wellbeing, intersex human rights and disability inclusion.

Policy risk analysis The key risk is not limited to direct discrimination. It includes policy invisibility, underfunding, system fragmentation, poor data, unsafe disclosure, exclusion by design, and reliance on family or services that may not be affirming. These risks compound for people with cognitive disability, psychosocial disability, communication disability, acquired brain injury, autism, chronic illness, sensory disability, physical disability, intellectual disability or fluctuating support needs.

A government policy that appears neutral can still produce unequal effects if it assumes that everyone has a safe family, accessible transport, financial resources, digital literacy, a supportive GP, a stable home, privacy over personal records, and the confidence or capacity to complain. For many LGBTQIA+ people with disability, these assumptions are unsafe. A person may rely on a carer who does not affirm their identity. They may require assistance to complete forms but not want to disclose sexuality or gender to the person assisting them. They may be misgendered in care, isolated in housing, denied sexuality education, or exposed to identity-based abuse inside disability services.

Recommended policy response Protect the sexual, reproductive, parenting and bodily-autonomy rights of LGBTQIA+ people with disability across health, NDIS, guardianship, education and safeguarding systems.

The recommended policy response should be implemented through the following actions:

• Fund accessible sexuality, consent, reproductive health and parenting information.

• Protect against coercive contraception, sterilisation, abortion pressure or denial of reproductive care.

• Ensure intersex bodily autonomy and patient-directed care are reflected in health policy.

• Train disability, health and education workers on sexuality, consent, gender diversity and disability rights. Implementation levers

• Legislation and regulation: clarify positive duties, anti-discrimination protections, complaints pathways and provider obligations where the risk is rights-based.

• Funding agreements: require publicly funded services to demonstrate both disability access and LGBTQIA+ cultural safety.

• Commissioning and procurement: include lived-experience co-design, accessibility, privacy, trauma-informed practice and independent evaluation requirements.

• Data and reporting: collect safe, voluntary, privacy-protective intersectional data, and publish aggregate service- improvement findings.

• Workforce capability: require training that addresses disability, sexuality, gender identity, sex characteristics, supported decision-making and safeguarding together.

• Independent oversight: include complaints, audits, peer review and escalation pathways that are accessible, identity-safe and protected against retaliation.

Disability-specific considerations The disability-specific dimension must remain central. A policy that is LGBTQIA+ inclusive but inaccessible will still fail. A policy that is disability-inclusive but identity-blind will also fail. Reasonable adjustment, supported decision making, communication access, physical access, digital accessibility, sensory safety, interpreter access, Auslan, Easy Read, trauma-informed practice and privacy controls should be treated as core design requirements, not optional enhancements.

Ministerial position The Minister can support the principle that no person should be required to choose which part of themselves a public service is prepared to recognise. A credible policy response should recognise LGBTQIA+ people with disability as a defined priority cohort, fund the organisations and peer leaders who understand the intersection, and place measurable duties on mainstream systems rather than leaving individuals to navigate exclusion after harm has occurred.

Suggested decision That the Minister agree to seek departmental advice on the feasibility, cost, governance and implementation pathway for the proposed policy response, including consultation with LGBTQIA+ people with disability and relevant representative organisations.

Selected sources Women With Disabilities Australia, Submission on sexual and reproductive rights. Rights-based framing of sexual and reproductive rights for women and girls with disability. https://wwda.org.au/our-resources/publication/disability royal-commission-wwdas-submission-on-sexual-and-reproductive-rights/

Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, National Action Plan for the Health and

Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035. National approach to LGBTIQA+ health and wellbeing over 2025

2035. https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/national-action-plan-for-the-health-and-wellbeing-of-lgbtiqa- people-2025-2035?language=en

Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability, Final Report, 2023. Final report with recommendations on violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation. https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/final-report

Disability Royal Commission, Violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of LGBTQA+ people with disability,

2022. Research identifying higher rates of violence, abuse, neglect and discrimination among LGBTQA+ people with disability. https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/violence-abuse-neglect-and-exploitation-lgbtqa people-disability

LGBTIQ+ Health Australia, Budget Submission 2026-27. Community-led proposals for investment in LGBTIQ+ health, wellbeing, intersex human rights and disability inclusion. https://www.lgbtiqhealth.org.au/lha_budget_submission_2026-27

Two-Page Ministerial Brief

Field Content

Issue Disability-Inclusive Sexual and Reproductive Rights

Policy

Decision sought Agree to develop a targeted LGBTQIA+ disability policy response and consult relevant representative organisations. Lead policy frame Protect the sexual, reproductive, parenting and bodily autonomy rights of LGBTQIA+ people with disability across health, NDIS, guardianship, education and safeguarding systems. Risk rating High where reform affects safety, housing, care, health access, decision-making, data, justice or service eligibility.

Problem

Disabled people are often wrongly treated as asexual, incapable of consent, incapable of parenting or unsuitable for intimate autonomy; LGBTQIA+ disabled people face additional identity-based suppression.

The policy gap arises because disability and LGBTQIA+ policy are often designed in parallel. People living at the intersection encounter both sets of barriers at once, but service systems frequently respond to only one.

Why it matters now

• Current reforms across disability, health, housing, aged care, employment and digital government create implementation risks for people with complex access and identity-safety needs.

• Recent research and sector evidence show elevated exposure to harassment, abuse, poor mental health, service discrimination and invisibility in data.

• Government can prevent harm by embedding intersectional safeguards at design stage rather than relying on individual complaints after exclusion occurs.

Recommended actions

• Fund accessible sexuality, consent, reproductive health and parenting information.

• Protect against coercive contraception, sterilisation, abortion pressure or denial of reproductive care.

• Ensure intersex bodily autonomy and patient-directed care are reflected in health policy.

• Train disability, health and education workers on sexuality, consent, gender diversity and disability rights. Suggested talking points

• LGBTQIA+ people with disability should not have to choose between identity safety and disability access.

• A general inclusion statement is not enough if the service pathway remains inaccessible, unsafe or dependent on disclosure to unsupportive people.

• Government should fund and govern policy through people with lived experience, not merely consult them after decisions are made.

• The proposed policy strengthens mainstream systems by making risk visible before harm occurs. Immediate next steps

1. Commission a short departmental options paper within 30 days.
2. Convene a lived-experience roundtable with LGBTQIA+ disabled people and representative organisations.

3. Map existing funding, programs and regulatory levers.
4. Prepare a costed implementation plan with annual public reporting.

LGBTQIA+ Disability Employment and Economic

Security Policy

LGBTQIA+ People with Disability Policy Risk Pack

Prepared for ministerial, departmental, parliamentary and stakeholder advocacy. Date: 8 July 2026.

Contents: full policy brief; two-page ministerial brief; source list.

Full Policy Brief

Field Content

To Minister / Shadow Minister / Parliamentary or

Departmental Stakeholder

From Andrew Hartwell

Date 8 July 2026

Subject LGBTQIA+ Disability Employment and Economic

Security Policy

Purpose

This brief proposes a policy response to the risk issue: LGBTQIA+ Disability Employment and Economic Security Policy. The proposed policy is to embed LGBTQIA+ disability competence in Inclusive Employment Australia, public sector inclusion policy, procurement, workplace adjustment systems and anti-harassment regulation. The brief is intended for ministerial, departmental and parliamentary advocacy and can be adapted for federal, state or territory use.

Core risk Employment services may address disability barriers without identity safety, while workplace diversity programs may address sexuality and gender without disability access.

The common structural problem is that LGBTQIA+ people with disability are often treated as too complex for standard policy categories. Disability systems may assume a person whose sexuality, gender identity or sex characteristics are irrelevant. LGBTQIA+ systems may assume a non-disabled person who can navigate services independently, travel easily, communicate without adjustment and safely disclose identity. Mainstream systems may assume that a general equality statement is enough. In practice, the result is a gap between rights on paper and access in daily life.

Current policy and evidence context The current policy context supports urgent action. Australia’s National Action Plan for the Health and Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035 provides a national framework for LGBTIQA+ health equity, while Australia’s disability policy architecture continues to respond to the Disability Royal Commission, NDIS reform, accessible housing, safeguarding and mainstream service obligations. Recent research and sector material also show that LGBTQIA+ people with disability experience distinctive risks across health care, safety, services, work, ageing, family relationships, education, data visibility and community participation.

Evidence base Why it matters

Department of Social Services, Inclusive Employment Inclusive Employment Australia replaced Disability

Australia, 2026 Employment Services on 1 November 2025. Australian Government Department of Health, Disability National approach to LGBTIQA+ health and wellbeing and Ageing, National Action Plan for the Health and over 2025-2035. Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035

People with Disability Australia, PWDA launches National lived-experience evidence-gathering across national survey for LGBTQIA+ people with disability, identity, healthcare, safety, services, work and ageing. 2025 Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, People with Notes the need to standardise how data captures diverse disability in Australia 2026: What can be done to groups within the disability population, including people improve the evidence who identify as LGBTIQ+. LGBTIQ+ Health Australia, Budget Submission 2026-27 Community-led proposals for investment in LGBTIQ+ health, wellbeing, intersex human rights and disability inclusion.

Policy risk analysis The key risk is not limited to direct discrimination. It includes policy invisibility, underfunding, system fragmentation, poor data, unsafe disclosure, exclusion by design, and reliance on family or services that may not be affirming. These risks compound for people with cognitive disability, psychosocial disability, communication disability, acquired brain injury, autism, chronic illness, sensory disability, physical disability, intellectual disability or fluctuating support needs.

A government policy that appears neutral can still produce unequal effects if it assumes that everyone has a safe family, accessible transport, financial resources, digital literacy, a supportive GP, a stable home, privacy over personal records, and the confidence or capacity to complain. For many LGBTQIA+ people with disability, these assumptions are unsafe. A person may rely on a carer who does not affirm their identity. They may require assistance to complete forms but not want to disclose sexuality or gender to the person assisting them. They may be misgendered in care, isolated in housing, denied sexuality education, or exposed to identity-based abuse inside disability services.

Recommended policy response Embed LGBTQIA+ disability competence in Inclusive Employment Australia, public-sector inclusion policy, procurement, workplace adjustment systems and anti-harassment regulation.

The recommended policy response should be implemented through the following actions:

• Require Inclusive Employment Australia providers to demonstrate LGBTQIA+ disability competence.

• Fund workplace peer-navigation and disclosure safety resources.

• Embed gender affirmation, disability adjustment and anti-harassment protections in public-sector employment standards.

• Measure employment outcomes for LGBTQIA+ disabled people where safe and voluntary. Implementation levers

• Legislation and regulation: clarify positive duties, anti-discrimination protections, complaints pathways and provider obligations where the risk is rights-based.

• Funding agreements: require publicly funded services to demonstrate both disability access and LGBTQIA+ cultural safety.

• Commissioning and procurement: include lived-experience co-design, accessibility, privacy, trauma-informed practice and independent evaluation requirements.

• Data and reporting: collect safe, voluntary, privacy-protective intersectional data, and publish aggregate service- improvement findings.

• Workforce capability: require training that addresses disability, sexuality, gender identity, sex characteristics, supported decision-making and safeguarding together.

• Independent oversight: include complaints, audits, peer review and escalation pathways that are accessible, identity-safe and protected against retaliation.

Disability-specific considerations The disability-specific dimension must remain central. A policy that is LGBTQIA+ inclusive but inaccessible will still fail. A policy that is disability-inclusive but identity-blind will also fail. Reasonable adjustment, supported decision making, communication access, physical access, digital accessibility, sensory safety, interpreter access, Auslan, Easy Read, trauma-informed practice and privacy controls should be treated as core design requirements, not optional enhancements.

Ministerial position The Minister can support the principle that no person should be required to choose which part of themselves a public service is prepared to recognise. A credible policy response should recognise LGBTQIA+ people with disability as a defined priority cohort, fund the organisations and peer leaders who understand the intersection, and place measurable duties on mainstream systems rather than leaving individuals to navigate exclusion after harm has occurred.

Suggested decision That the Minister agree to seek departmental advice on the feasibility, cost, governance and implementation pathway for the proposed policy response, including consultation with LGBTQIA+ people with disability and relevant representative organisations.

Selected sources

Department of Social Services, Inclusive Employment Australia, 2026. Inclusive Employment Australia replaced

Disability Employment Services on 1 November 2025. https://www.dss.gov.au/inclusive-employment-australia

Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, National Action Plan for the Health and

Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035. National approach to LGBTIQA+ health and wellbeing over 2025

2035. https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/national-action-plan-for-the-health-and-wellbeing-of-lgbtiqa- people-2025-2035?language=en

People with Disability Australia, PWDA launches national survey for LGBTQIA+ people with disability, 2025. National lived-experience evidence-gathering across identity, healthcare, safety, services, work and ageing. https://pwd.org.au/pwda-launches-national-survey-for-lgbtqia-people-with-disability/

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, People with disability in Australia 2026: What can be done to improve the evidence. Notes the need to standardise how data captures diverse groups within the disability population, including people who identify as LGBTIQ+. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/disability/people-with-disability 2026/contents/key-data-gaps/what-can-be-done-to-improve-the-evidence

LGBTIQ+ Health Australia, Budget Submission 2026-27. Community-led proposals for investment in LGBTIQ+ health, wellbeing, intersex human rights and disability inclusion. https://www.lgbtiqhealth.org.au/lha_budget_submission_2026-27

Two-Page Ministerial Brief

Field Content

Issue LGBTQIA+ Disability Employment and Economic

Security Policy

Decision sought Agree to develop a targeted LGBTQIA+ disability policy response and consult relevant representative organisations. Lead policy frame Embed LGBTQIA+ disability competence in Inclusive Employment Australia, public-sector inclusion policy, procurement, workplace adjustment systems and anti harassment regulation. Risk rating High where reform affects safety, housing, care, health access, decision-making, data, justice or service eligibility.

Problem

Employment services may address disability barriers without identity safety, while workplace diversity programs may address sexuality and gender without disability access.

The policy gap arises because disability and LGBTQIA+ policy are often designed in parallel. People living at the intersection encounter both sets of barriers at once, but service systems frequently respond to only one.

Why it matters now

• Current reforms across disability, health, housing, aged care, employment and digital government create implementation risks for people with complex access and identity-safety needs.

• Recent research and sector evidence show elevated exposure to harassment, abuse, poor mental health, service discrimination and invisibility in data.

• Government can prevent harm by embedding intersectional safeguards at design stage rather than relying on individual complaints after exclusion occurs.

Recommended actions

• Require Inclusive Employment Australia providers to demonstrate LGBTQIA+ disability competence.

• Fund workplace peer-navigation and disclosure safety resources.

• Embed gender affirmation, disability adjustment and anti-harassment protections in public-sector employment standards.

• Measure employment outcomes for LGBTQIA+ disabled people where safe and voluntary. Suggested talking points

• LGBTQIA+ people with disability should not have to choose between identity safety and disability access.

• A general inclusion statement is not enough if the service pathway remains inaccessible, unsafe or dependent on disclosure to unsupportive people.

• Government should fund and govern policy through people with lived experience, not merely consult them after decisions are made.

• The proposed policy strengthens mainstream systems by making risk visible before harm occurs. Immediate next steps

1. Commission a short departmental options paper within 30 days.

2. Convene a lived-experience roundtable with LGBTQIA+ disabled people and representative organisations.
3. Map existing funding, programs and regulatory levers.
4. Prepare a costed implementation plan with annual public reporting.

Data Justice and Intersectional Measurement Policy

LGBTQIA+ People with Disability Policy Risk Pack

Prepared for ministerial, departmental, parliamentary and stakeholder advocacy. Date: 8 July 2026.

Contents: full policy brief; two-page ministerial brief; source list.

Full Policy Brief

Field Content

To Minister / Shadow Minister / Parliamentary or

Departmental Stakeholder

From Andrew Hartwell

Date 8 July 2026

Subject Data Justice and Intersectional Measurement Policy

Purpose

This brief proposes a policy response to the risk issue: Data Justice and Intersectional Measurement Policy. The proposed policy is to create safe, voluntary and privacy-protective collection of disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, intersex variation and other relevant demographic data across major service systems. The brief is intended for ministerial, departmental and parliamentary advocacy and can be adapted for federal, state or territory use.

Core risk If LGBTQIA+ disability is invisible in data, it remains invisible in budgets, performance measures, service design and reform evaluation.

The common structural problem is that LGBTQIA+ people with disability are often treated as too complex for standard policy categories. Disability systems may assume a person whose sexuality, gender identity or sex characteristics are irrelevant. LGBTQIA+ systems may assume a non-disabled person who can navigate services independently, travel easily, communicate without adjustment and safely disclose identity. Mainstream systems may assume that a general equality statement is enough. In practice, the result is a gap between rights on paper and access in daily life.

Current policy and evidence context The current policy context supports urgent action. Australia’s National Action Plan for the Health and Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035 provides a national framework for LGBTIQA+ health equity, while Australia’s disability policy architecture continues to respond to the Disability Royal Commission, NDIS reform, accessible housing, safeguarding and mainstream service obligations. Recent research and sector material also show that LGBTQIA+ people with disability experience distinctive risks across health care, safety, services, work, ageing, family relationships, education, data visibility and community participation.

Evidence base Why it matters Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, People with Identifies gaps in disability data, including disability in Australia 2026: Existing data sources and administrative data limitations. challenges Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, People with Notes the need to standardise how data captures diverse disability in Australia 2026: What can be done to groups within the disability population, including people improve the evidence who identify as LGBTIQ+. Australian Government Department of Health, Disability National approach to LGBTIQA+ health and wellbeing and Ageing, National Action Plan for the Health and over 2025-2035. Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035

People with Disability Australia, PWDA launches National lived-experience evidence-gathering across national survey for LGBTQIA+ people with disability, identity, healthcare, safety, services, work and ageing. 2025 Australian Human Rights Commission, Stats and Facts: Includes national facts on LGBTIQA+ rights, including LGBTIQA+ rights, 2025 homelessness.

Policy risk analysis The key risk is not limited to direct discrimination. It includes policy invisibility, underfunding, system fragmentation, poor data, unsafe disclosure, exclusion by design, and reliance on family or services that may not be affirming. These risks compound for people with cognitive disability, psychosocial disability, communication disability, acquired brain injury, autism, chronic illness, sensory disability, physical disability, intellectual disability or fluctuating support needs.

A government policy that appears neutral can still produce unequal effects if it assumes that everyone has a safe family, accessible transport, financial resources, digital literacy, a supportive GP, a stable home, privacy over personal records, and the confidence or capacity to complain. For many LGBTQIA+ people with disability, these assumptions are unsafe. A person may rely on a carer who does not affirm their identity. They may require assistance to complete forms but not want to disclose sexuality or gender to the person assisting them. They may be misgendered in care, isolated in housing, denied sexuality education, or exposed to identity-based abuse inside disability services.

Recommended policy response Create safe, voluntary and privacy-protective collection of disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, intersex variation and other relevant demographic data across major service systems.

The recommended policy response should be implemented through the following actions:

• Standardise respectful data items while protecting voluntary disclosure.

• Require public reporting that improves services rather than surveils individuals.

• Fund community-led data governance and interpretation.

• Ensure data systems include accessibility, privacy, correction rights and protections against outing. Implementation levers

• Legislation and regulation: clarify positive duties, anti-discrimination protections, complaints pathways and provider obligations where the risk is rights-based.

• Funding agreements: require publicly funded services to demonstrate both disability access and LGBTQIA+ cultural safety.

• Commissioning and procurement: include lived-experience co-design, accessibility, privacy, trauma-informed practice and independent evaluation requirements.

• Data and reporting: collect safe, voluntary, privacy-protective intersectional data, and publish aggregate service- improvement findings.

• Workforce capability: require training that addresses disability, sexuality, gender identity, sex characteristics, supported decision-making and safeguarding together.

• Independent oversight: include complaints, audits, peer review and escalation pathways that are accessible, identity-safe and protected against retaliation.

Disability-specific considerations The disability-specific dimension must remain central. A policy that is LGBTQIA+ inclusive but inaccessible will still fail. A policy that is disability-inclusive but identity-blind will also fail. Reasonable adjustment, supported decision making, communication access, physical access, digital accessibility, sensory safety, interpreter access, Auslan, Easy Read, trauma-informed practice and privacy controls should be treated as core design requirements, not optional enhancements.

Ministerial position The Minister can support the principle that no person should be required to choose which part of themselves a public service is prepared to recognise. A credible policy response should recognise LGBTQIA+ people with disability as a defined priority cohort, fund the organisations and peer leaders who understand the intersection, and place measurable duties on mainstream systems rather than leaving individuals to navigate exclusion after harm has occurred.

Suggested decision That the Minister agree to seek departmental advice on the feasibility, cost, governance and implementation pathway for the proposed policy response, including consultation with LGBTQIA+ people with disability and relevant representative organisations.

Selected sources Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, People with disability in Australia 2026: Existing data sources and challenges. Identifies gaps in disability data, including administrative data limitations. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/disability/people-with-disability-2026/contents/key-data-gaps/existing-data-sources and-challenges

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, People with disability in Australia 2026: What can be done to improve the evidence. Notes the need to standardise how data captures diverse groups within the disability population, including people who identify as LGBTIQ+. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/disability/people-with-disability 2026/contents/key-data-gaps/what-can-be-done-to-improve-the-evidence

Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, National Action Plan for the Health and

Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035. National approach to LGBTIQA+ health and wellbeing over 2025

2035. https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/national-action-plan-for-the-health-and-wellbeing-of-lgbtiqa- people-2025-2035?language=en

People with Disability Australia, PWDA launches national survey for LGBTQIA+ people with disability, 2025. National lived-experience evidence-gathering across identity, healthcare, safety, services, work and ageing. https://pwd.org.au/pwda-launches-national-survey-for-lgbtqia-people-with-disability/

Australian Human Rights Commission, Stats and Facts: LGBTIQA+ rights, 2025. Includes national facts on LGBTIQA+ rights, including homelessness. https://humanrights.gov.au/human-rights-education/stats-and-facts-about discrimination/statistics-about-lgbtiqa-rights

Two-Page Ministerial Brief

Field Content

Issue Data Justice and Intersectional Measurement Policy

Decision sought Agree to develop a targeted LGBTQIA+ disability policy response and consult relevant representative organisations.

Lead policy frame Create safe, voluntary and privacy-protective collection of disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, intersex variation and other relevant demographic data across major service systems. Risk rating High where reform affects safety, housing, care, health access, decision-making, data, justice or service eligibility.

Problem

If LGBTQIA+ disability is invisible in data, it remains invisible in budgets, performance measures, service design and reform evaluation.

The policy gap arises because disability and LGBTQIA+ policy are often designed in parallel. People living at the intersection encounter both sets of barriers at once, but service systems frequently respond to only one.

Why it matters now

• Current reforms across disability, health, housing, aged care, employment and digital government create implementation risks for people with complex access and identity-safety needs.

• Recent research and sector evidence show elevated exposure to harassment, abuse, poor mental health, service discrimination and invisibility in data.

• Government can prevent harm by embedding intersectional safeguards at design stage rather than relying on individual complaints after exclusion occurs.

Recommended actions

• Standardise respectful data items while protecting voluntary disclosure.

• Require public reporting that improves services rather than surveils individuals.

• Fund community-led data governance and interpretation.

• Ensure data systems include accessibility, privacy, correction rights and protections against outing. Suggested talking points

• LGBTQIA+ people with disability should not have to choose between identity safety and disability access.

• A general inclusion statement is not enough if the service pathway remains inaccessible, unsafe or dependent on disclosure to unsupportive people.

• Government should fund and govern policy through people with lived experience, not merely consult them after decisions are made.

• The proposed policy strengthens mainstream systems by making risk visible before harm occurs. Immediate next steps

1. Commission a short departmental options paper within 30 days.
2. Convene a lived-experience roundtable with LGBTQIA+ disabled people and representative organisations.
3. Map existing funding, programs and regulatory levers.
4. Prepare a costed implementation plan with annual public reporting.

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Digital Safety, AI and Automated Decision-Making

Protections

LGBTQIA+ People with Disability Policy Risk Pack

Prepared for ministerial, departmental, parliamentary and stakeholder advocacy. Date: 8 July 2026.

Contents: full policy brief; two-page ministerial brief; source list.

Full Policy Brief

Field Content

To Minister / Shadow Minister / Parliamentary or

Departmental Stakeholder

From Andrew Hartwell

Date 8 July 2026

Subject Digital Safety, AI and Automated Decision-Making

Protections

Purpose

This brief proposes a policy response to the risk issue: Digital Safety, AI and Automated Decision-Making Protections. The proposed policy is to introduce protections against inaccessible, discriminatory or outing-prone digital systems used in NDIS, housing, welfare, health, employment and education decisions. The brief is intended for ministerial, departmental and parliamentary advocacy and can be adapted for federal, state or territory use.

Core risk Automated screening, digital portals and identity systems may exclude LGBTQIA+ disabled people through inaccessible design, incorrect identity records, risk scoring, privacy failures or lack of human review.

The common structural problem is that LGBTQIA+ people with disability are often treated as too complex for standard policy categories. Disability systems may assume a person whose sexuality, gender identity or sex characteristics are irrelevant. LGBTQIA+ systems may assume a non-disabled person who can navigate services independently, travel easily, communicate without adjustment and safely disclose identity. Mainstream systems may assume that a general equality statement is enough. In practice, the result is a gap between rights on paper and access in daily life.

Current policy and evidence context The current policy context supports urgent action. Australia’s National Action Plan for the Health and Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035 provides a national framework for LGBTIQA+ health equity, while Australia’s disability policy architecture continues to respond to the Disability Royal Commission, NDIS reform, accessible housing, safeguarding and mainstream service obligations. Recent research and sector material also show that LGBTQIA+ people with disability experience distinctive risks across health care, safety, services, work, ageing, family relationships, education, data visibility and community participation.

Evidence base Why it matters Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, People with Identifies gaps in disability data, including disability in Australia 2026: Existing data sources and administrative data limitations. challenges Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, People with Notes the need to standardise how data captures diverse disability in Australia 2026: What can be done to groups within the disability population, including people

improve the evidence who identify as LGBTIQ+. Australian Human Rights Commission, Trans and gender Explainer on laws, systems and policies protecting trans diverse people’s rights in Australia, 2026 and gender diverse people. Australian Government Department of Health, Disability National approach to LGBTIQA+ health and wellbeing and Ageing, National Action Plan for the Health and over 2025-2035. Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035 Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Final report with recommendations on violence, abuse, Exploitation of People with Disability, Final Report, neglect and exploitation. 2023

Policy risk analysis The key risk is not limited to direct discrimination. It includes policy invisibility, underfunding, system fragmentation, poor data, unsafe disclosure, exclusion by design, and reliance on family or services that may not be affirming. These risks compound for people with cognitive disability, psychosocial disability, communication disability, acquired brain injury, autism, chronic illness, sensory disability, physical disability, intellectual disability or fluctuating support needs.

A government policy that appears neutral can still produce unequal effects if it assumes that everyone has a safe family, accessible transport, financial resources, digital literacy, a supportive GP, a stable home, privacy over personal records, and the confidence or capacity to complain. For many LGBTQIA+ people with disability, these assumptions are unsafe. A person may rely on a carer who does not affirm their identity. They may require assistance to complete forms but not want to disclose sexuality or gender to the person assisting them. They may be misgendered in care, isolated in housing, denied sexuality education, or exposed to identity-based abuse inside disability services.

Recommended policy response Introduce protections against inaccessible, discriminatory or outing-prone digital systems used in NDIS, housing, welfare, health, employment and education decisions.

The recommended policy response should be implemented through the following actions:

• Require human review and accessible appeal rights for automated decisions affecting support, housing, care or payments.

• Protect privacy and control over name, gender marker, pronouns, sex characteristics and disability information.

• Mandate accessibility and co-design for government digital systems.

• Audit automated systems for disability, gender, sexuality and intersex-related bias before deployment. Implementation levers

• Legislation and regulation: clarify positive duties, anti-discrimination protections, complaints pathways and provider obligations where the risk is rights-based.

• Funding agreements: require publicly funded services to demonstrate both disability access and LGBTQIA+ cultural safety.

• Commissioning and procurement: include lived-experience co-design, accessibility, privacy, trauma-informed practice and independent evaluation requirements.

• Data and reporting: collect safe, voluntary, privacy-protective intersectional data, and publish aggregate service- improvement findings.

• Workforce capability: require training that addresses disability, sexuality, gender identity, sex characteristics, supported decision-making and safeguarding together.

• Independent oversight: include complaints, audits, peer review and escalation pathways that are accessible, identity-safe and protected against retaliation.

Disability-specific considerations The disability-specific dimension must remain central. A policy that is LGBTQIA+ inclusive but inaccessible will still fail. A policy that is disability-inclusive but identity-blind will also fail. Reasonable adjustment, supported decision making, communication access, physical access, digital accessibility, sensory safety, interpreter access, Auslan, Easy Read, trauma-informed practice and privacy controls should be treated as core design requirements, not optional enhancements.

Ministerial position The Minister can support the principle that no person should be required to choose which part of themselves a public service is prepared to recognise. A credible policy response should recognise LGBTQIA+ people with disability as a defined priority cohort, fund the organisations and peer leaders who understand the intersection, and place measurable duties on mainstream systems rather than leaving individuals to navigate exclusion after harm has occurred.

Suggested decision That the Minister agree to seek departmental advice on the feasibility, cost, governance and implementation pathway for the proposed policy response, including consultation with LGBTQIA+ people with disability and relevant representative organisations.

Selected sources Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, People with disability in Australia 2026: Existing data sources and challenges. Identifies gaps in disability data, including administrative data limitations. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/disability/people-with-disability-2026/contents/key-data-gaps/existing-data-sources and-challenges

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, People with disability in Australia 2026: What can be done to improve the evidence. Notes the need to standardise how data captures diverse groups within the disability population, including people who identify as LGBTIQ+. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/disability/people-with-disability 2026/contents/key-data-gaps/what-can-be-done-to-improve-the-evidence

Australian Human Rights Commission, Trans and gender diverse people’s rights in Australia, 2026. Explainer on laws, systems and policies protecting trans and gender diverse people. https://humanrights.gov.au/know-your rights/rights-of-individuals/lgbtiq-rights/trans-and-gender-diverse-rights-in-australia/explainer-trans-and-gender diverse-peoples-rights-in-australia

Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, National Action Plan for the Health and

Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035. National approach to LGBTIQA+ health and wellbeing over 2025

2035. https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/national-action-plan-for-the-health-and-wellbeing-of-lgbtiqa- people-2025-2035?language=en

Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability, Final Report, 2023. Final report with recommendations on violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation. https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/final-report

Two-Page Ministerial Brief

Field Content

Issue Digital Safety, AI and Automated Decision-Making

Protections

Decision sought Agree to develop a targeted LGBTQIA+ disability policy response and consult relevant representative organisations. Lead policy frame Introduce protections against inaccessible, discriminatory or outing-prone digital systems used in NDIS, housing, welfare, health, employment and education decisions. Risk rating High where reform affects safety, housing, care, health access, decision-making, data, justice or service eligibility.

Problem

Automated screening, digital portals and identity systems may exclude LGBTQIA+ disabled people through inaccessible design, incorrect identity records, risk scoring, privacy failures or lack of human review.

The policy gap arises because disability and LGBTQIA+ policy are often designed in parallel. People living at the intersection encounter both sets of barriers at once, but service systems frequently respond to only one.

Why it matters now

• Current reforms across disability, health, housing, aged care, employment and digital government create implementation risks for people with complex access and identity-safety needs.

• Recent research and sector evidence show elevated exposure to harassment, abuse, poor mental health, service discrimination and invisibility in data.

• Government can prevent harm by embedding intersectional safeguards at design stage rather than relying on individual complaints after exclusion occurs.

Recommended actions

• Require human review and accessible appeal rights for automated decisions affecting support, housing, care or payments.

• Protect privacy and control over name, gender marker, pronouns, sex characteristics and disability information.

• Mandate accessibility and co-design for government digital systems.

• Audit automated systems for disability, gender, sexuality and intersex-related bias before deployment. Suggested talking points

• LGBTQIA+ people with disability should not have to choose between identity safety and disability access.

• A general inclusion statement is not enough if the service pathway remains inaccessible, unsafe or dependent on disclosure to unsupportive people.

• Government should fund and govern policy through people with lived experience, not merely consult them after decisions are made.

• The proposed policy strengthens mainstream systems by making risk visible before harm occurs.

Immediate next steps

1. Commission a short departmental options paper within 30 days.
2. Convene a lived-experience roundtable with LGBTQIA+ disabled people and representative organisations.
3. Map existing funding, programs and regulatory levers.
4. Prepare a costed implementation plan with annual public reporting.

LGBTQIA+ Disability Emergency and Disaster

Resilience Policy

LGBTQIA+ People with Disability Policy Risk Pack

Prepared for ministerial, departmental, parliamentary and stakeholder advocacy. Date: 8 July 2026.

Contents: full policy brief; two-page ministerial brief; source list.

Full Policy Brief

Field Content

To Minister / Shadow Minister / Parliamentary or

Departmental Stakeholder

From Andrew Hartwell

Date 8 July 2026

Subject LGBTQIA+ Disability Emergency and Disaster

Resilience Policy

Purpose

This brief proposes a policy response to the risk issue: LGBTQIA+ Disability Emergency and Disaster Resilience Policy. The proposed policy is to ensure emergency planning, evacuation centres, disaster recovery and communications recognise disability access, LGBTQIA+ safety, chosen family and identity privacy. The brief is intended for ministerial, departmental and parliamentary advocacy and can be adapted for federal, state or territory use.

Core risk Disaster systems often assume standard households, biological family and non-disabled mobility, leaving LGBTQIA+ disabled people unsafe in shelters, evacuations, communications and recovery.

The common structural problem is that LGBTQIA+ people with disability are often treated as too complex for standard policy categories. Disability systems may assume a person whose sexuality, gender identity or sex characteristics are irrelevant. LGBTQIA+ systems may assume a non-disabled person who can navigate services independently, travel easily, communicate without adjustment and safely disclose identity. Mainstream systems may assume that a general equality statement is enough. In practice, the result is a gap between rights on paper and access in daily life.

Current policy and evidence context The current policy context supports urgent action. Australia’s National Action Plan for the Health and Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035 provides a national framework for LGBTIQA+ health equity, while Australia’s disability policy architecture continues to respond to the Disability Royal Commission, NDIS reform, accessible housing, safeguarding and mainstream service obligations. Recent research and sector material also show that LGBTQIA+ people with disability experience distinctive risks across health care, safety, services, work, ageing, family relationships, education, data visibility and community participation.

Evidence base Why it matters Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Final report with recommendations on violence, abuse, Exploitation of People with Disability, Final Report, neglect and exploitation. 2023 Australian Government Department of Health, Disability National approach to LGBTIQA+ health and wellbeing and Ageing, National Action Plan for the Health and over 2025-2035.

Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035 People with Disability Australia, PWDA launches National lived-experience evidence-gathering across national survey for LGBTQIA+ people with disability, identity, healthcare, safety, services, work and ageing. 2025 Australian Institute of Family Studies, Supporting Evidence and practice guidance on harassment, bullying, LGBTQ+ young people with disability: What service sexual assault, poor mental health, self-harm and suicide providers need to know, 2026 risks for LGBTQ+ young people with disability. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, People with Identifies gaps in disability data, including disability in Australia 2026: Existing data sources and administrative data limitations. challenges

Policy risk analysis The key risk is not limited to direct discrimination. It includes policy invisibility, underfunding, system fragmentation, poor data, unsafe disclosure, exclusion by design, and reliance on family or services that may not be affirming. These risks compound for people with cognitive disability, psychosocial disability, communication disability, acquired brain injury, autism, chronic illness, sensory disability, physical disability, intellectual disability or fluctuating support needs.

A government policy that appears neutral can still produce unequal effects if it assumes that everyone has a safe family, accessible transport, financial resources, digital literacy, a supportive GP, a stable home, privacy over personal records, and the confidence or capacity to complain. For many LGBTQIA+ people with disability, these assumptions are unsafe. A person may rely on a carer who does not affirm their identity. They may require assistance to complete forms but not want to disclose sexuality or gender to the person assisting them. They may be misgendered in care, isolated in housing, denied sexuality education, or exposed to identity-based abuse inside disability services.

Recommended policy response Ensure emergency planning, evacuation centres, disaster recovery and communications recognise disability access, LGBTQIA+ safety, chosen family and identity privacy.

The recommended policy response should be implemented through the following actions:

• Require inclusive evacuation centre standards covering disability access and LGBTQIA+ safety.

• Allow nominated support people and chosen family in disaster planning and welfare checks.

• Protect privacy for trans, gender-diverse and intersex people in evacuation and temporary accommodation.

• Fund backup-power, assistive technology, accessible alerts and community-led resilience networks. Implementation levers

• Legislation and regulation: clarify positive duties, anti-discrimination protections, complaints pathways and provider obligations where the risk is rights-based.

• Funding agreements: require publicly funded services to demonstrate both disability access and LGBTQIA+ cultural safety.

• Commissioning and procurement: include lived-experience co-design, accessibility, privacy, trauma-informed practice and independent evaluation requirements.

• Data and reporting: collect safe, voluntary, privacy-protective intersectional data, and publish aggregate service- improvement findings.

• Workforce capability: require training that addresses disability, sexuality, gender identity, sex characteristics, supported decision-making and safeguarding together.

• Independent oversight: include complaints, audits, peer review and escalation pathways that are accessible, identity-safe and protected against retaliation.

Disability-specific considerations The disability-specific dimension must remain central. A policy that is LGBTQIA+ inclusive but inaccessible will still fail. A policy that is disability-inclusive but identity-blind will also fail. Reasonable adjustment, supported decision making, communication access, physical access, digital accessibility, sensory safety, interpreter access, Auslan, Easy Read, trauma-informed practice and privacy controls should be treated as core design requirements, not optional enhancements.

Ministerial position The Minister can support the principle that no person should be required to choose which part of themselves a public service is prepared to recognise. A credible policy response should recognise LGBTQIA+ people with disability as a defined priority cohort, fund the organisations and peer leaders who understand the intersection, and place measurable duties on mainstream systems rather than leaving individuals to navigate exclusion after harm has occurred.

Suggested decision That the Minister agree to seek departmental advice on the feasibility, cost, governance and implementation pathway for the proposed policy response, including consultation with LGBTQIA+ people with disability and relevant representative organisations.

Selected sources Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability, Final Report, 2023. Final report with recommendations on violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation. https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/final-report

Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, National Action Plan for the Health and

Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035. National approach to LGBTIQA+ health and wellbeing over 2025

2035. https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/national-action-plan-for-the-health-and-wellbeing-of-lgbtiqa- people-2025-2035?language=en

People with Disability Australia, PWDA launches national survey for LGBTQIA+ people with disability, 2025. National lived-experience evidence-gathering across identity, healthcare, safety, services, work and ageing. https://pwd.org.au/pwda-launches-national-survey-for-lgbtqia-people-with-disability/

Australian Institute of Family Studies, Supporting LGBTQ+ young people with disability: What service providers need to know, 2026. Evidence and practice guidance on harassment, bullying, sexual assault, poor mental health, self-harm and suicide risks for LGBTQ+ young people with disability. https://aifs.gov.au/resources/policy-and practice-papers/supporting-lgbtq-young-people-disability-what-service

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, People with disability in Australia 2026: Existing data sources and challenges. Identifies gaps in disability data, including administrative data limitations. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/disability/people-with-disability-2026/contents/key-data-gaps/existing-data-sources and-challenges

Two-Page Ministerial Brief

Field Content

Issue LGBTQIA+ Disability Emergency and Disaster

Resilience Policy

Decision sought Agree to develop a targeted LGBTQIA+ disability policy response and consult relevant representative organisations. Lead policy frame Ensure emergency planning, evacuation centres, disaster recovery and communications recognise disability access, LGBTQIA+ safety, chosen family and identity privacy. Risk rating High where reform affects safety, housing, care, health access, decision-making, data, justice or service eligibility.

Problem

Disaster systems often assume standard households, biological family and non-disabled mobility, leaving LGBTQIA+ disabled people unsafe in shelters, evacuations, communications and recovery.

The policy gap arises because disability and LGBTQIA+ policy are often designed in parallel. People living at the intersection encounter both sets of barriers at once, but service systems frequently respond to only one.

Why it matters now

• Current reforms across disability, health, housing, aged care, employment and digital government create implementation risks for people with complex access and identity-safety needs.

• Recent research and sector evidence show elevated exposure to harassment, abuse, poor mental health, service discrimination and invisibility in data.

• Government can prevent harm by embedding intersectional safeguards at design stage rather than relying on individual complaints after exclusion occurs.

Recommended actions

• Require inclusive evacuation centre standards covering disability access and LGBTQIA+ safety.

• Allow nominated support people and chosen family in disaster planning and welfare checks.

• Protect privacy for trans, gender-diverse and intersex people in evacuation and temporary accommodation.

• Fund backup-power, assistive technology, accessible alerts and community-led resilience networks. Suggested talking points

• LGBTQIA+ people with disability should not have to choose between identity safety and disability access.

• A general inclusion statement is not enough if the service pathway remains inaccessible, unsafe or dependent on disclosure to unsupportive people.

• Government should fund and govern policy through people with lived experience, not merely consult them after decisions are made.

• The proposed policy strengthens mainstream systems by making risk visible before harm occurs.

Immediate next steps

1. Commission a short departmental options paper within 30 days.
2. Convene a lived-experience roundtable with LGBTQIA+ disabled people and representative organisations.
3. Map existing funding, programs and regulatory levers.
4. Prepare a costed implementation plan with annual public reporting.

Justice, Police and Custodial Safeguards for

LGBTQIA+ People with Disability

LGBTQIA+ People with Disability Policy Risk Pack

Prepared for ministerial, departmental, parliamentary and stakeholder advocacy. Date: 8 July 2026.

Contents: full policy brief; two-page ministerial brief; source list.

Full Policy Brief

Field Content

To Minister / Shadow Minister / Parliamentary or

Departmental Stakeholder

From Andrew Hartwell

Date 8 July 2026 Subject Justice, Police and Custodial Safeguards for LGBTQIA+

People with Disability

Purpose

This brief proposes a policy response to the risk issue: Justice, Police and Custodial Safeguards for LGBTQIA+ People with Disability. The proposed policy is to strengthen safeguards for LGBTQIA+ people with disability in policing, courts, prisons, youth justice, forensic disability, immigration detention and mental health detention. The brief is intended for ministerial, departmental and parliamentary advocacy and can be adapted for federal, state or territory use.

Core risk People may be misgendered, placed unsafely, disbelieved, denied disability supports, denied gender-related healthcare or punished for disability-related distress.

The common structural problem is that LGBTQIA+ people with disability are often treated as too complex for standard policy categories. Disability systems may assume a person whose sexuality, gender identity or sex characteristics are irrelevant. LGBTQIA+ systems may assume a non-disabled person who can navigate services independently, travel easily, communicate without adjustment and safely disclose identity. Mainstream systems may assume that a general equality statement is enough. In practice, the result is a gap between rights on paper and access in daily life.

Current policy and evidence context The current policy context supports urgent action. Australia’s National Action Plan for the Health and Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035 provides a national framework for LGBTIQA+ health equity, while Australia’s disability policy architecture continues to respond to the Disability Royal Commission, NDIS reform, accessible housing, safeguarding and mainstream service obligations. Recent research and sector material also show that LGBTQIA+ people with disability experience distinctive risks across health care, safety, services, work, ageing, family relationships, education, data visibility and community participation.

Evidence base Why it matters Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Final report with recommendations on violence, abuse, Exploitation of People with Disability, Final Report, neglect and exploitation. 2023 Disability Royal Commission, Violence, abuse, neglect Research identifying higher rates of violence, abuse, and exploitation of LGBTQA+ people with disability, neglect and discrimination among LGBTQA+ people

2022 with disability. La Trobe University, Research report on violence, abuse, Secondary analysis of Private Lives 3 and Writing neglect and exploitation of LGBTQA+ people with Themselves In 4. disability, 2022 Australian Human Rights Commission, Trans and gender Explainer on laws, systems and policies protecting trans diverse people’s rights in Australia, 2026 and gender diverse people. Disability Royal Commission, Towards best-practice Research into service access barriers for CALD people access to services for culturally and linguistically diverse with disability. people with disability

Policy risk analysis The key risk is not limited to direct discrimination. It includes policy invisibility, underfunding, system fragmentation, poor data, unsafe disclosure, exclusion by design, and reliance on family or services that may not be affirming. These risks compound for people with cognitive disability, psychosocial disability, communication disability, acquired brain injury, autism, chronic illness, sensory disability, physical disability, intellectual disability or fluctuating support needs.

A government policy that appears neutral can still produce unequal effects if it assumes that everyone has a safe family, accessible transport, financial resources, digital literacy, a supportive GP, a stable home, privacy over personal records, and the confidence or capacity to complain. For many LGBTQIA+ people with disability, these assumptions are unsafe. A person may rely on a carer who does not affirm their identity. They may require assistance to complete forms but not want to disclose sexuality or gender to the person assisting them. They may be misgendered in care, isolated in housing, denied sexuality education, or exposed to identity-based abuse inside disability services.

Recommended policy response Strengthen safeguards for LGBTQIA+ people with disability in policing, courts, prisons, youth justice, forensic disability, immigration detention and mental health detention.

The recommended policy response should be implemented through the following actions:

• Guarantee independent disability advocacy at police interview, court and detention points.

• Require safe placement protocols for trans, gender-diverse and intersex people with disability.

• Screen for cognitive disability, acquired brain injury and communication support needs.

• Protect continuity of medication, aids, gender-affirming care and psychosocial support in custody. Implementation levers

• Legislation and regulation: clarify positive duties, anti-discrimination protections, complaints pathways and provider obligations where the risk is rights-based.

• Funding agreements: require publicly funded services to demonstrate both disability access and LGBTQIA+ cultural safety.

• Commissioning and procurement: include lived-experience co-design, accessibility, privacy, trauma-informed practice and independent evaluation requirements.

• Data and reporting: collect safe, voluntary, privacy-protective intersectional data, and publish aggregate service- improvement findings.

• Workforce capability: require training that addresses disability, sexuality, gender identity, sex characteristics, supported decision-making and safeguarding together.

• Independent oversight: include complaints, audits, peer review and escalation pathways that are accessible, identity-safe and protected against retaliation.

Disability-specific considerations The disability-specific dimension must remain central. A policy that is LGBTQIA+ inclusive but inaccessible will still fail. A policy that is disability-inclusive but identity-blind will also fail. Reasonable adjustment, supported decision making, communication access, physical access, digital accessibility, sensory safety, interpreter access, Auslan, Easy Read, trauma-informed practice and privacy controls should be treated as core design requirements, not optional enhancements.

Ministerial position The Minister can support the principle that no person should be required to choose which part of themselves a public service is prepared to recognise. A credible policy response should recognise LGBTQIA+ people with disability as a defined priority cohort, fund the organisations and peer leaders who understand the intersection, and place measurable duties on mainstream systems rather than leaving individuals to navigate exclusion after harm has occurred.

Suggested decision That the Minister agree to seek departmental advice on the feasibility, cost, governance and implementation pathway for the proposed policy response, including consultation with LGBTQIA+ people with disability and relevant representative organisations.

Selected sources Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability, Final Report, 2023. Final report with recommendations on violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation. https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/final-report

Disability Royal Commission, Violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of LGBTQA+ people with disability,

2022. Research identifying higher rates of violence, abuse, neglect and discrimination among LGBTQA+ people with disability. https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/violence-abuse-neglect-and-exploitation-lgbtqa people-disability

La Trobe University, Research report on violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of LGBTQA+ people with disability, 2022. Secondary analysis of Private Lives 3 and Writing Themselves In 4. https://www.latrobe.edu.au/arcshs/work/lgbtiq-health/private-lives-3

Australian Human Rights Commission, Trans and gender diverse people’s rights in Australia, 2026. Explainer on laws, systems and policies protecting trans and gender diverse people. https://humanrights.gov.au/know-your rights/rights-of-individuals/lgbtiq-rights/trans-and-gender-diverse-rights-in-australia/explainer-trans-and-gender diverse-peoples-rights-in-australia

Disability Royal Commission, Towards best-practice access to services for culturally and linguistically diverse people with disability. Research into service access barriers for CALD people with disability. https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/towards-best-practice-access-services-culturally-and linguistically-diverse-people-disability

Two-Page Ministerial Brief

Field Content

Issue Justice, Police and Custodial Safeguards for LGBTQIA+

People with Disability

Decision sought Agree to develop a targeted LGBTQIA+ disability policy response and consult relevant representative organisations. Lead policy frame Strengthen safeguards for LGBTQIA+ people with disability in policing, courts, prisons, youth justice, forensic disability, immigration detention and mental health detention. Risk rating High where reform affects safety, housing, care, health access, decision-making, data, justice or service eligibility.

Problem

People may be misgendered, placed unsafely, disbelieved, denied disability supports, denied gender-related healthcare or punished for disability-related distress.

The policy gap arises because disability and LGBTQIA+ policy are often designed in parallel. People living at the intersection encounter both sets of barriers at once, but service systems frequently respond to only one.

Why it matters now

• Current reforms across disability, health, housing, aged care, employment and digital government create implementation risks for people with complex access and identity-safety needs.

• Recent research and sector evidence show elevated exposure to harassment, abuse, poor mental health, service discrimination and invisibility in data.

• Government can prevent harm by embedding intersectional safeguards at design stage rather than relying on individual complaints after exclusion occurs.

Recommended actions

• Guarantee independent disability advocacy at police interview, court and detention points.

• Require safe placement protocols for trans, gender-diverse and intersex people with disability.

• Screen for cognitive disability, acquired brain injury and communication support needs.

• Protect continuity of medication, aids, gender-affirming care and psychosocial support in custody. Suggested talking points

• LGBTQIA+ people with disability should not have to choose between identity safety and disability access.

• A general inclusion statement is not enough if the service pathway remains inaccessible, unsafe or dependent on disclosure to unsupportive people.

• Government should fund and govern policy through people with lived experience, not merely consult them after decisions are made.

• The proposed policy strengthens mainstream systems by making risk visible before harm occurs. Immediate next steps

1. Commission a short departmental options paper within 30 days.
2. Convene a lived-experience roundtable with LGBTQIA+ disabled people and representative organisations.

3. Map existing funding, programs and regulatory levers.
4. Prepare a costed implementation plan with annual public reporting.

Culturally Safe LGBTQIA+ Disability Services for

First Nations and CALD Communities

LGBTQIA+ People with Disability Policy Risk Pack

Prepared for ministerial, departmental, parliamentary and stakeholder advocacy. Date: 8 July 2026.

Contents: full policy brief; two-page ministerial brief; source list.

Full Policy Brief

Field Content

To Minister / Shadow Minister / Parliamentary or

Departmental Stakeholder

From Andrew Hartwell

Date 8 July 2026

Subject Culturally Safe LGBTQIA+ Disability Services for First

Nations and CALD Communities

Purpose

This brief proposes a policy response to the risk issue: Culturally Safe LGBTQIA+ Disability Services for First Nations and CALD Communities. The proposed policy is to fund and govern intersectional services for LGBTQIA+ disabled people who are First Nations, culturally and linguistically diverse, migrants, refugees, people of faith or from non English speaking backgrounds. The brief is intended for ministerial, departmental and parliamentary advocacy and can be adapted for federal, state or territory use.

Core risk People may be forced to choose between culture, disability support and identity safety, while facing racism, language barriers, family pressure, migration insecurity and service discrimination.

The common structural problem is that LGBTQIA+ people with disability are often treated as too complex for standard policy categories. Disability systems may assume a person whose sexuality, gender identity or sex characteristics are irrelevant. LGBTQIA+ systems may assume a non-disabled person who can navigate services independently, travel easily, communicate without adjustment and safely disclose identity. Mainstream systems may assume that a general equality statement is enough. In practice, the result is a gap between rights on paper and access in daily life.

Current policy and evidence context The current policy context supports urgent action. Australia’s National Action Plan for the Health and Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035 provides a national framework for LGBTIQA+ health equity, while Australia’s disability policy architecture continues to respond to the Disability Royal Commission, NDIS reform, accessible housing, safeguarding and mainstream service obligations. Recent research and sector material also show that LGBTQIA+ people with disability experience distinctive risks across health care, safety, services, work, ageing, family relationships, education, data visibility and community participation.

Evidence base Why it matters Disability Royal Commission, Towards best-practice Research into service access barriers for CALD people access to services for culturally and linguistically diverse with disability. people with disability National Ethnic Disability Alliance, Our Voices, Our OVOLOW project with online mentoring, peer support,

Lives, Our Way training and resources for LGBTIQA+ people with disability. Australian Institute of Family Studies, Supporting Evidence and practice guidance on harassment, bullying, LGBTQ+ young people with disability: What service sexual assault, poor mental health, self-harm and suicide providers need to know, 2026 risks for LGBTQ+ young people with disability. Disability Royal Commission, Violence, abuse, neglect Research identifying higher rates of violence, abuse, and exploitation of LGBTQA+ people with disability, neglect and discrimination among LGBTQA+ people 2022 with disability. Australian Government Department of Health, Disability National approach to LGBTIQA+ health and wellbeing and Ageing, National Action Plan for the Health and over 2025-2035. Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035

Policy risk analysis The key risk is not limited to direct discrimination. It includes policy invisibility, underfunding, system fragmentation, poor data, unsafe disclosure, exclusion by design, and reliance on family or services that may not be affirming. These risks compound for people with cognitive disability, psychosocial disability, communication disability, acquired brain injury, autism, chronic illness, sensory disability, physical disability, intellectual disability or fluctuating support needs.

A government policy that appears neutral can still produce unequal effects if it assumes that everyone has a safe family, accessible transport, financial resources, digital literacy, a supportive GP, a stable home, privacy over personal records, and the confidence or capacity to complain. For many LGBTQIA+ people with disability, these assumptions are unsafe. A person may rely on a carer who does not affirm their identity. They may require assistance to complete forms but not want to disclose sexuality or gender to the person assisting them. They may be misgendered in care, isolated in housing, denied sexuality education, or exposed to identity-based abuse inside disability services.

Recommended policy response Fund and govern intersectional services for LGBTQIA+ disabled people who are First Nations, culturally and linguistically diverse, migrants, refugees, people of faith or from non-English speaking backgrounds.

The recommended policy response should be implemented through the following actions:

• Fund First Nations-led and CALD-led LGBTQIA+ disability navigation.

• Provide bilingual and culturally safe peer support.

• Train interpreters, disability providers and LGBTQIA+ services on intersectional confidentiality and safety.

• Require mainstream systems to address racism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia and family coercion together. Implementation levers

• Legislation and regulation: clarify positive duties, anti-discrimination protections, complaints pathways and provider obligations where the risk is rights-based.

• Funding agreements: require publicly funded services to demonstrate both disability access and LGBTQIA+ cultural safety.

• Commissioning and procurement: include lived-experience co-design, accessibility, privacy, trauma-informed practice and independent evaluation requirements.

• Data and reporting: collect safe, voluntary, privacy-protective intersectional data, and publish aggregate service- improvement findings.

• Workforce capability: require training that addresses disability, sexuality, gender identity, sex characteristics, supported decision-making and safeguarding together.

• Independent oversight: include complaints, audits, peer review and escalation pathways that are accessible, identity-safe and protected against retaliation.

Disability-specific considerations The disability-specific dimension must remain central. A policy that is LGBTQIA+ inclusive but inaccessible will still fail. A policy that is disability-inclusive but identity-blind will also fail. Reasonable adjustment, supported decision making, communication access, physical access, digital accessibility, sensory safety, interpreter access, Auslan, Easy Read, trauma-informed practice and privacy controls should be treated as core design requirements, not optional enhancements.

Ministerial position The Minister can support the principle that no person should be required to choose which part of themselves a public service is prepared to recognise. A credible policy response should recognise LGBTQIA+ people with disability as a defined priority cohort, fund the organisations and peer leaders who understand the intersection, and place measurable duties on mainstream systems rather than leaving individuals to navigate exclusion after harm has occurred.

Suggested decision That the Minister agree to seek departmental advice on the feasibility, cost, governance and implementation pathway for the proposed policy response, including consultation with LGBTQIA+ people with disability and relevant representative organisations.

Selected sources Disability Royal Commission, Towards best-practice access to services for culturally and linguistically diverse people with disability. Research into service access barriers for CALD people with disability. https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/towards-best-practice-access-services-culturally-and linguistically-diverse-people-disability

National Ethnic Disability Alliance, Our Voices, Our Lives, Our Way. OVOLOW project with online mentoring,

peer support, training and resources for LGBTIQA+ people with disability. https://neda.org.au/our-voices-our-lives our-way/

Australian Institute of Family Studies, Supporting LGBTQ+ young people with disability: What service providers need to know, 2026. Evidence and practice guidance on harassment, bullying, sexual assault, poor mental health, self-harm and suicide risks for LGBTQ+ young people with disability. https://aifs.gov.au/resources/policy-and practice-papers/supporting-lgbtq-young-people-disability-what-service

Disability Royal Commission, Violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of LGBTQA+ people with disability,

2022. Research identifying higher rates of violence, abuse, neglect and discrimination among LGBTQA+ people with disability. https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/violence-abuse-neglect-and-exploitation-lgbtqa people-disability

Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, National Action Plan for the Health and

Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035. National approach to LGBTIQA+ health and wellbeing over 2025

2035. https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/national-action-plan-for-the-health-and-wellbeing-of-lgbtiqa- people-2025-2035?language=en

Two-Page Ministerial Brief

Field Content

Issue Culturally Safe LGBTQIA+ Disability Services for First

Nations and CALD Communities

Decision sought Agree to develop a targeted LGBTQIA+ disability policy response and consult relevant representative organisations. Lead policy frame Fund and govern intersectional services for LGBTQIA+ disabled people who are First Nations, culturally and linguistically diverse, migrants, refugees, people of faith or from non-English speaking backgrounds. Risk rating High where reform affects safety, housing, care, health access, decision-making, data, justice or service eligibility.

Problem

People may be forced to choose between culture, disability support and identity safety, while facing racism, language barriers, family pressure, migration insecurity and service discrimination.

The policy gap arises because disability and LGBTQIA+ policy are often designed in parallel. People living at the intersection encounter both sets of barriers at once, but service systems frequently respond to only one.

Why it matters now

• Current reforms across disability, health, housing, aged care, employment and digital government create implementation risks for people with complex access and identity-safety needs.

• Recent research and sector evidence show elevated exposure to harassment, abuse, poor mental health, service discrimination and invisibility in data.

• Government can prevent harm by embedding intersectional safeguards at design stage rather than relying on individual complaints after exclusion occurs.

Recommended actions

• Fund First Nations-led and CALD-led LGBTQIA+ disability navigation.

• Provide bilingual and culturally safe peer support.

• Train interpreters, disability providers and LGBTQIA+ services on intersectional confidentiality and safety.

• Require mainstream systems to address racism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia and family coercion together. Suggested talking points

• LGBTQIA+ people with disability should not have to choose between identity safety and disability access.

• A general inclusion statement is not enough if the service pathway remains inaccessible, unsafe or dependent on disclosure to unsupportive people.

• Government should fund and govern policy through people with lived experience, not merely consult them after decisions are made.

• The proposed policy strengthens mainstream systems by making risk visible before harm occurs.

Immediate next steps

1. Commission a short departmental options paper within 30 days.
2. Convene a lived-experience roundtable with LGBTQIA+ disabled people and representative organisations.
3. Map existing funding, programs and regulatory levers.
4. Prepare a costed implementation plan with annual public reporting.

LGBTQIA+ Disability Community Infrastructure

and Peer Leadership Fund

LGBTQIA+ People with Disability Policy Risk Pack

Prepared for ministerial, departmental, parliamentary and stakeholder advocacy. Date: 8 July 2026.

Contents: full policy brief; two-page ministerial brief; source list.

Full Policy Brief

Field Content

To Minister / Shadow Minister / Parliamentary or

Departmental Stakeholder

From Andrew Hartwell

Date 8 July 2026

Subject LGBTQIA+ Disability Community Infrastructure and

Peer Leadership Fund

Purpose

This brief proposes a policy response to the risk issue: LGBTQIA+ Disability Community Infrastructure and Peer Leadership Fund. The proposed policy is to establish a dedicated fund for LGBTQIA+ disabled peer leadership, advocacy, research, local support groups, accessible events, regional outreach and lived-experience policy fellowships. The brief is intended for ministerial, departmental and parliamentary advocacy and can be adapted for federal, state or territory use.

Core risk Governments often consult LGBTQIA+ disabled people without resourcing them to lead, design, evaluate or deliver the solutions that affect their lives.

The common structural problem is that LGBTQIA+ people with disability are often treated as too complex for standard policy categories. Disability systems may assume a person whose sexuality, gender identity or sex characteristics are irrelevant. LGBTQIA+ systems may assume a non-disabled person who can navigate services independently, travel easily, communicate without adjustment and safely disclose identity. Mainstream systems may assume that a general equality statement is enough. In practice, the result is a gap between rights on paper and access in daily life.

Current policy and evidence context The current policy context supports urgent action. Australia’s National Action Plan for the Health and Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035 provides a national framework for LGBTIQA+ health equity, while Australia’s disability policy architecture continues to respond to the Disability Royal Commission, NDIS reform, accessible housing, safeguarding and mainstream service obligations. Recent research and sector material also show that LGBTQIA+ people with disability experience distinctive risks across health care, safety, services, work, ageing, family relationships, education, data visibility and community participation.

Evidence base Why it matters People with Disability Australia, PWDA launches National lived-experience evidence-gathering across national survey for LGBTQIA+ people with disability, identity, healthcare, safety, services, work and ageing. 2025 People with Disability Australia, PWDA put queer Reports survey findings including discrimination by

disabled people In Focus at Mardi Gras, 2026 healthcare workers, support workers, carers or family members, and identity being ignored or not believed. LGBTIQ+ Health Australia, Disability Inclusion and Overview of OVOLOW, a co-designed advocacy Our Voices, Our Lives, Our Way resource for LGBTIQ+ people with disability. Our Voices, Our Lives, Our Way Resource Hub Accessible resources, stories, toolkits and research amplifying the voices of LGBTIQA+ people with disability. National Ethnic Disability Alliance, Our Voices, Our OVOLOW project with online mentoring, peer support, Lives, Our Way training and resources for LGBTIQA+ people with disability. LGBTIQ+ Health Australia, Budget Submission 2026-27 Community-led proposals for investment in LGBTIQ+ health, wellbeing, intersex human rights and disability inclusion.

Policy risk analysis The key risk is not limited to direct discrimination. It includes policy invisibility, underfunding, system fragmentation, poor data, unsafe disclosure, exclusion by design, and reliance on family or services that may not be affirming. These risks compound for people with cognitive disability, psychosocial disability, communication disability, acquired brain injury, autism, chronic illness, sensory disability, physical disability, intellectual disability or fluctuating support needs.

A government policy that appears neutral can still produce unequal effects if it assumes that everyone has a safe family, accessible transport, financial resources, digital literacy, a supportive GP, a stable home, privacy over personal records, and the confidence or capacity to complain. For many LGBTQIA+ people with disability, these assumptions are unsafe. A person may rely on a carer who does not affirm their identity. They may require assistance to complete forms but not want to disclose sexuality or gender to the person assisting them. They may be misgendered in care, isolated in housing, denied sexuality education, or exposed to identity-based abuse inside disability services.

Recommended policy response Establish a dedicated fund for LGBTQIA+ disabled peer leadership, advocacy, research, local support groups, accessible events, regional outreach and lived-experience policy fellowships.

The recommended policy response should be implemented through the following actions:

• Fund peer-led organisations and local groups run by LGBTQIA+ disabled people.

• Create lived-experience policy fellowships and paid advisory roles.

• Support accessible Pride, community events, digital resources and regional outreach.

• Fund co-designed research and evaluation through trusted community organisations. Implementation levers

• Legislation and regulation: clarify positive duties, anti-discrimination protections, complaints pathways and provider obligations where the risk is rights-based.

• Funding agreements: require publicly funded services to demonstrate both disability access and LGBTQIA+ cultural safety.

• Commissioning and procurement: include lived-experience co-design, accessibility, privacy, trauma-informed practice and independent evaluation requirements.

• Data and reporting: collect safe, voluntary, privacy-protective intersectional data, and publish aggregate service- improvement findings.

• Workforce capability: require training that addresses disability, sexuality, gender identity, sex characteristics, supported decision-making and safeguarding together.

• Independent oversight: include complaints, audits, peer review and escalation pathways that are accessible, identity-safe and protected against retaliation.

Disability-specific considerations The disability-specific dimension must remain central. A policy that is LGBTQIA+ inclusive but inaccessible will still fail. A policy that is disability-inclusive but identity-blind will also fail. Reasonable adjustment, supported decision making, communication access, physical access, digital accessibility, sensory safety, interpreter access, Auslan, Easy Read, trauma-informed practice and privacy controls should be treated as core design requirements, not optional enhancements.

Ministerial position The Minister can support the principle that no person should be required to choose which part of themselves a public service is prepared to recognise. A credible policy response should recognise LGBTQIA+ people with disability as a defined priority cohort, fund the organisations and peer leaders who understand the intersection, and place measurable duties on mainstream systems rather than leaving individuals to navigate exclusion after harm has occurred.

Suggested decision That the Minister agree to seek departmental advice on the feasibility, cost, governance and implementation pathway for the proposed policy response, including consultation with LGBTQIA+ people with disability and relevant representative organisations.

Selected sources People with Disability Australia, PWDA launches national survey for LGBTQIA+ people with disability, 2025. National lived-experience evidence-gathering across identity, healthcare, safety, services, work and ageing. https://pwd.org.au/pwda-launches-national-survey-for-lgbtqia-people-with-disability/

People with Disability Australia, PWDA put queer disabled people In Focus at Mardi Gras, 2026. Reports survey findings including discrimination by healthcare workers, support workers, carers or family members, and identity being ignored or not believed. https://pwd.org.au/pwda-put-queer-disabled-people-in-focus-at-mardi-gras/

LGBTIQ+ Health Australia, Disability Inclusion and Our Voices, Our Lives, Our Way. Overview of OVOLOW,

a co-designed advocacy resource for LGBTIQ+ people with disability. https://www.lgbtiqhealth.org.au/disability_inclusion

Our Voices, Our Lives, Our Way Resource Hub. Accessible resources, stories, toolkits and research amplifying the voices of LGBTIQA+ people with disability. https://ovolowresourcehub.org.au/

National Ethnic Disability Alliance, Our Voices, Our Lives, Our Way. OVOLOW project with online mentoring,

peer support, training and resources for LGBTIQA+ people with disability. https://neda.org.au/our-voices-our-lives our-way/

LGBTIQ+ Health Australia, Budget Submission 2026-27. Community-led proposals for investment in LGBTIQ+ health, wellbeing, intersex human rights and disability inclusion. https://www.lgbtiqhealth.org.au/lha_budget_submission_2026-27

Two-Page Ministerial Brief

Field Content

Issue LGBTQIA+ Disability Community Infrastructure and

Peer Leadership Fund

Decision sought Agree to develop a targeted LGBTQIA+ disability policy response and consult relevant representative organisations. Lead policy frame Establish a dedicated fund for LGBTQIA+ disabled peer leadership, advocacy, research, local support groups, accessible events, regional outreach and lived-experience policy fellowships. Risk rating High where reform affects safety, housing, care, health access, decision-making, data, justice or service eligibility.

Problem

Governments often consult LGBTQIA+ disabled people without resourcing them to lead, design, evaluate or deliver the solutions that affect their lives.

The policy gap arises because disability and LGBTQIA+ policy are often designed in parallel. People living at the intersection encounter both sets of barriers at once, but service systems frequently respond to only one.

Why it matters now

• Current reforms across disability, health, housing, aged care, employment and digital government create implementation risks for people with complex access and identity-safety needs.

• Recent research and sector evidence show elevated exposure to harassment, abuse, poor mental health, service discrimination and invisibility in data.

• Government can prevent harm by embedding intersectional safeguards at design stage rather than relying on individual complaints after exclusion occurs.

Recommended actions

• Fund peer-led organisations and local groups run by LGBTQIA+ disabled people.

• Create lived-experience policy fellowships and paid advisory roles.

• Support accessible Pride, community events, digital resources and regional outreach.

• Fund co-designed research and evaluation through trusted community organisations. Suggested talking points

• LGBTQIA+ people with disability should not have to choose between identity safety and disability access.

• A general inclusion statement is not enough if the service pathway remains inaccessible, unsafe or dependent on disclosure to unsupportive people.

• Government should fund and govern policy through people with lived experience, not merely consult them after decisions are made.

• The proposed policy strengthens mainstream systems by making risk visible before harm occurs.

Immediate next steps

1. Commission a short departmental options paper within 30 days.
2. Convene a lived-experience roundtable with LGBTQIA+ disabled people and representative organisations.
3. Map existing funding, programs and regulatory levers.
4. Prepare a costed implementation plan with annual public reporting.