WAAC

Today marks the start of Trans Awareness Week, a week of celebrating trans joy and identity, raising awareness around trans issues facing the community, and learning how to be an ally, now more than ever. It is an invitation to get involved as allies and to improve the lives of transgender people by creating a more fair and equal world for everyone. We encourage everyone reading to take the time to learn more about issues facing the trans community, and to encourage others to learn how to be allies, and to get involved in your local LGBTIQA+ community. #lgbt #activism #awareness #charity #ngo #transawarenessweek

This World AIDS Day (December 1st), WAAC are bringing the community together and meeting at Forrest Place in the heart of the CBD to attempt to set a record for the largest amount of condoms packed in one hour - and we need your help! Each year, WAAC distributes over 100,000 safe sex packs across WA to help prevent HIV and STIs, so we need as many packed as we can, and what better way to rally around World AIDS Day and HIV/AIDS awareness! Whether you come solo, bring friends, or rally your workplace crew, every pack you make helps protect our community. When: Monday 1 December, 9.00am-10.00am (arrive by 8.45am) Where: Forrest Place, 200 Murray St RSVP: https://lnkd.in/gig6RKf9 #lgbt #charity #record #awareness #ngo

The Gay, Bi, Queer+ Community Periodic Survey is back, and we need you to help answer some questions and shape the future of LGBTIQA+ healthcare, policies, and projects in Australia! Organised by the UNSW Centre for Social Research in Health, this is an anonymous survey about all things sexual health for males and male-identifying people who are into other men. We want to know what you get up to behind closed doors so we can make sure that research goes towards where it's needed most! Click the link below to have your say, and it would be a huge help if you can share this survey with your networks too! https://lnkd.in/gVcMah3e #survey #healthcare #ngo #charity

The Pride in Respect campaign - led by Living Proud in collaboration with WAAC, GRAI, and TransFolk WA - is inviting expressions of interest from community members to take part in an awareness initiative focused on preventing family, domestic and sexual violence (FDSV) within LGBTIQA+ communities. We’re seeking LGBTIQA+ community members aged 18 and over who have lived experience of family, domestic or sexual violence (FDSV) and feel ready to share their perspectives in a safe and supported way in the development of a short podcast series. For more information and to express your interest, please head to the link below. Please note: For safety reasons, we’re unable to include participants who are currently experiencing family, domestic, or sexual violence. https://lnkd.in/gXxKNiBk #lgbt #podcast #ngo #pride #respect

WAAC has withdrawn from the 2025 Better Together Conference in solidarity with trans and gender-diverse community members who raised concerns that the organisers had given a platform to content which undermines their dignity, safety and wellbeing.   To come to this position, we have consulted members of the trans and gender-diverse community. At WAAC, we follow the lead of the communities we serve and support. When trans and gender-diverse people tell us their safety and dignity are at stake, we do our best to listen and to act.   Trans and gender-diverse people deserve respect, affirmation, safety and the right to tell their own stories. WAAC will not participate in forums that compromise these core rights.   As a trusted member of the LGBTIQA+ community sector, we have a responsibility to guard against all forms of harm; this includes lateral violence within our own communities.   We acknowledge that different organisations will reach different conclusions about the right course of action based on their local circumstances and consultations. This is the right decision for WAAC, grounded in discussions with trans and gender diverse communities and individuals with whom we work. We make no judgment about the decisions of other organisations that choose to remain involved.   The decision to withdraw from Better Together means WAAC staff will no longer present the important work of our Freedom Project, which offers social support, counselling, and community-building opportunities for LGBTIQA+ young people aged 12-25 years. However, our commitment to trans and gender-diverse young people remains absolute.   As queer activist Marsha P Johnson reminded us, there can be "no pride for some of us without liberation for all of us." These words guide WAAC’s purpose every day. Our freedom is bound together, and we will continue to seek out and create spaces where trans and gender-diverse people are not just included, but centred, celebrated and safe.   We look forward to re-engaging with the conference in the future, once the concerns raised by trans and gender-diverse community members have been addressed, and their safety has been assured.

Over the last nine months, WAAC and HepatitisWA have been exploring closer, more strategic collaboration to strengthen our services and better serve our communities.    The response from our initial consultations earlier this year was overwhelmingly positive and encouraging. We heard support for dialogue about closer collaboration, recognition of significant opportunities for greater reach, sustainability and community impact, and a shared commitment to preserving what makes each organisation distinctive and valued.   Building on this feedback, the Boards of both organisations agreed to begin a detailed feasibility study. This involves deeper exploration of how this closer collaboration could deliver the best benefits in practice: identifying opportunities, managing risks, and exploring models that ensure any future changes enhance and sustain our impact across communities.   We're now entering the next phase of planned consultation with staff and other stakeholders, and look forward to sharing the findings and further updates soon. If you have anything you would like to share about this work, please get in touch.

The third Thursday of October each year marks Global Peer Support Celebration Day, a day for peer supporters, also known as peer workers or peer providers, to reflect on and celebrate the important roles they play in helping their peers. Peer workers often support others struggling with mental health, addiction, and or trauma-related challenges, and provide the support they need to challenge and overcome these difficulties in times of need, and assisting with the challenges of everyday life. At WAAC, we are incredibly thankful to our Peer Support Workers and Volunteers who provide essential support for those living with and affected by HIV through our peer support program at WAAC, and young LGBTIQA+ people figuring out their place in the world through peer support at Freedom and our Freedom Centre. Please join us in celebrating the at-times life-saving work that Peer Support workers provide, and acknowledging the time, effort, and passion that Peer Support workers put into their communities. #peer #peersupport #lgbt #charity #ngo

In 2018, our friends at the Kirby Institute launched the first ever Australian Trans & Gender Diverse Sexual Health Survey. With data from thousands of trans and gender diverse people across the country, this survey provided vital new information to best support the sexual health of these communities. The Kirby Institute are once again asking for trans people of all genders, including trans women, trans men, non-binary people, and those who use other terms to describe their gender such as Sistergirl, Brotherboy, leiti, fa'afafine, fa'afatama, hijra and more, to complete the survey and have their say! If this sounds like you and you would like to help inform the response to sexual healthcare for your community, please head to the link below to learn more and to fill out the survey ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/gyJD2w-x #healthcare #charity #survey #community

As Perth prepares for Pride this November, now is the time for organisations to ask: are our workplaces truly inclusive? 🤔 Investing in LGBTIQA+ inclusions workshops is not just a tick-box exercise; they are a way to make meaningful change in your workplace that drives productivity, creativity, and fosters an inclusive workplace culture. ❤️ Employees who are not out at work are twice as likely to feel downhearted compared to those who are out. 🧡 LGBTIQA+ inclusive workplaces see up to 50% more innovation, 35% more effective teamwork, and 28% stronger customer/client service. 💛 Less than half of LGBTIQA+ employees feel comfortable being out about their orientation (43%) or gender identity (47%) with everyone at work. If inclusion feels like something you do once a year, it may never drive all the benefits it could. Our workshops are designed to build safe, inclusive workplaces, helping your teams feel safe, valued & able to bring their best selves to work, every day. Book your workshop in time for Pride: https://lnkd.in/g9zGzuhY

WAAC runs a successful Needle and Syringe Program in the City of Fremantle, and was proud to have our NSEP Coordinator participate in the City of Fremantle's Public Health Plan consultations. NSEPs are widely recognised as one of the cornerstones of Australia's public health response to blood-borne viruses. Economic evaluations consistently demonstrate their cost-effectiveness, saving billions of dollars in treatment costs through prevention and harm reduction.