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AUSTRALIA

Sydney | Melbourne | Canberra | Perth | Gold Coast | Brisbane

Aussies Are Awesome

The LGBTQ Community Down Under

Australia is generally a very LGBTQ friendly country with national laws prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and same-sex marriage legal since 2017. While attitudes are highly positive, especially in urban centers like Sydney and Melbourne which host major pride events like the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and Midsumma Festival, some regional areas may have less positive attitudes. The country has a significant LGBTQ population, and a variety of support and advocacy groups are available to the community.

Legal Rights: Same-sex marriage has been legal across Australia since 2017. Discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity is illegal nationwide. States and territories have also abolished the gay panic defense and enacted laws to ban conversion therapy in many areas.
 

Social Acceptance: Australia is considered one of the most LGBTQ friendly countries globally, with a high degree of social acceptance for homosexual individuals.

Safety and Caution: While generally safe, visitors are advised to exercise caution, as extravagant public displays of affection can be frowned upon regardless of orientation.
 

LGBTQ Population: An estimated 4.5% of Australians aged 16 and over identify as LGBTQ.
 

Events and Cities: Australia boasts a vibrant LGBTQ culture, with major events like the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, Melbourne's Midsumma Festival, and other pride festivals in cities like Brisbane, Newcastle, and Perth.

Support and Resources :
--QLife: Provides anonymous, free telephone and webchat support for LGBTQ individuals, their families, and health professionals.
--Minus 18: An advocacy platform offering resources and guidance for LGBTQ youth.
--Black Rainbow: A national advocacy organization for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQ people.

 

LGBTQ Rights in Australia
Essential LGBTQ Guide to Visiting Australia
The Rise of Later Life Lesbians in Australia
Most Important LGBTQ Icons in Australia
Lesbian Wedding in Australia

Gay Australian Country Music Singer Michael Waugh Ties the Knot

LGBTQ Community in Australia

Lesbian Australia and NZ - Clips TV Shows and Films

Loving the Land Down Under
Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands

LGBTQ Australian Celebrities

Prominent LGBTQ allies include...

Olivia Newton John - Singer, Actor
Kylie Minogue - Singer, Songwriter, Actor
Alan Joyce - CEO Qantas Airlines
Ita Buttrose - Journalist

Australian Newscaster Peter Hitchener Celebrates Career Milestone
Thousands Celebrate 35th Annual Brisbane Pride March
Have Straights Killed Queer Culture on Oxford Street in Sydney?

Australia: Glamour and Pride at 11th Victorian Pride Awards

World’s Biggest Queer Culture Museum is in Australia

Australia Launches 10 Year Action Plan for LGBTQ Health

ABS Releases First Ever Estimates of Stats for LGBTQ Australians

Famous Homosexuals From Australia
 

Molly Meldrum

LGBTQ Trailblazer

Producer, journalist and music guru, Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum is widely considered the most important person in the Australian pop industry of the last forty years. He changed the face of Australian music with TV show Countdown (1974-1987), hosted the Australian leg of Live Aid in 1985, and became a Member of the Order of Australia for service to the fostering of international relief and to youth.

Meldrum was one of the first openly gay mainstream Australian TV stars and played an important role in breaking down stereotypes, paving the way for those who came after. In 2017 he received The Lifetime Achievement Award at the inaugural Australian LGBTQ Awards in recognition of his life and work.
 

LGBTQ Rights in Australia
Essential LGBTQ Guide to Visiting Australia
The Rise of Later Life Lesbians in Australia
Most Important LGBTQ Icons in Australia
Lesbian Wedding in Australia

Gay Australian Country Music Singer Michael Waugh Ties the Knot
LGBTQ Community in Australia

Lesbian Australia and NZ - Clips TV Shows and Films

Loving the Land Down Under
Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands

Aussie LGBTQ Support and Advocacy

Community Initiatives and Supporting Organizations
 

Australian Secondary Schools: Research highlights how Australian secondary school students become allies by challenging prejudice and working to create safer, more inclusive environments for LGBTQ peers.
 

University Ally Networks: Organizations like the ANU LGBTQ Ally Network at the Australian National University demonstrate institutional support for LGBTQ allies on campuses.
 

PFLAG Australia: A long-standing organization that provides peer support for families, friends, and allies of LGBTQ individuals.
Pinnacle Foundation<<!1>>: This foundation offers educational scholarships and mentoring to young LGBTQ people, with support from figures like Alan Joyce.
 

Pride in Diversity: A group co-founded by Alan Joyce, focused on promoting LGBTQ+ inclusion in the workplace.
 

LGBTQ Health Australia: The national peak health organization for organizations and individuals working with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer communities.

Australian Newscaster Peter Hitchener Celebrates Career Milestone
Thousands Celebrate 35th Annual Brisbane Pride March
Have Straights Killed Queer Culture on Oxford Street in Sydney?

Australia: Glamour and Pride at 11th Victorian Pride Awards

World’s Biggest Queer Culture Museum is in Australia

Australia Launches 10 Year Action Plan for LGBTQ Health

ABS Releases First Ever Estimates of Stats for LGBTQ Australians

Famous Homosexuals From Australia

Aussie Queer Stats

LGBTQ Australia by the Numbers...

Australia is one of the most LGBTQ-friendly countries in the world. In a 2013 Pew Research poll, 79% of Australians agreed that homosexuality should be accepted by society, making it the fifth most supportive country in the survey behind Spain (88%), Germany (87%), and Canada and the Czech Republic (both 80%). With a long history of LGBTQ rights activism and an annual three-week-long Mardi Gras festival, Sydney is considered one of the most gay-friendly cities in the world.

In 2014, over half a million people or 3.0% of the adult population identified as gay, lesbian, or "other". This included 268,000 people who identified as gay or lesbian and 255,000 people who identified as having an "other" sexual orientation.

In 2011, same-sex couples accounted for 0.7% of the total number of couples. It increased to 0.9% in the 2016 Census. In 2016, there were 23,700 male same-sex couples and 23,000 female same-sex couples. The pattern of more male than female same-sex couples has been consistent since 1996, although the degree of difference has decreased in each census, more significantly in the 2016 Census.

In 2016, same-sex couples accounted for 1.4% of all couples in the Australian Capital Territory, the highest proportion of any state or territory. However, only 2.6% of all same-sex couples in Australia lived in the Australian Capital Territory. The next highest proportions were in New South Wales and Victoria, where same-sex couples accounted for 1.0% of all couples. Almost two-thirds (63%) of same-sex couples lived in New South Wales (35.8%) or Victoria (27.1%), whereas only 0.8% lived in the Northern Territory and 1.8% in Tasmania.

The 2016 Census noted that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are more likely to live with a same-sex partner than non-Indigenous people. About 1.2% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people lived with a same-sex partner, while that of non-Indigenous people was 0.9%.

Social Acceptance... Public Attitudes...
 

A 2005 paper by the Australia Institute, Mapping Homophobia in Australia, found that 35% of people aged 14 or above considered homosexuality to be immoral, with Queensland and Tasmania having the highest levels of anti-gay sentiment and Victoria the lowest. Overall the most anti-LGBTQ areas in the study were the Moreton area of country Queensland (excluding the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast), Central and South-West Queensland and the Burnie/Western district of Tasmania, where 50% considered homosexuality to be immoral, while the least homophobic were inner-city Melbourne (14%), central Perth (21%) and central Melbourne (26%).

A 2018 Ipsos survey of the attitudes towards transgender people in several countries found 71% of Australian respondents thought that the country was becoming more tolerant of transgender people.
 

Australian Newscaster Peter Hitchener Celebrates Career Milestone
Thousands Celebrate 35th Annual Brisbane Pride March
Have Straights Killed Queer Culture on Oxford Street in Sydney?

Australia: Glamour and Pride at 11th Victorian Pride Awards

World’s Biggest Queer Culture Museum is in Australia

Australia Launches 10 Year Action Plan for LGBTQ Health

ABS Releases First Ever Estimates of Stats for LGBTQ Australians

Famous Homosexuals From Australia

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