The rumour mill is working overtime suggesting that the Bligh state government is going to an early election poll this year, possibly as early as March. With this in mind, QNews asked community groups, organisations and businesses to contribute to a report card on the Queensland Government from a LGBT perspective.

Below are the scores and collated comments of their responses.  Their responses and evaluations are quite surprising. With an estimated 329,000 LGBT voters in Queensland, it is surprising that more has not been done by the Labor Government to appease one of the biggest minorities in this state.

A = EXCELLENT PASS    B = GOOD PASS   C = MOSTLY SATISFACTORY   D = UNSATISFACTORY   F = FAIL

QLD POLICE

State Liason officer D

After a number of complaints Qld Police replaced the state GLBT officer with a more savvy

experienced Monica O’Mara but to date she has received no training and is only part time in

the role

Track GLBT police reports D

Despite promsies from police superintendent Katarina Carroll, the police computer system

that had been able to track LGBT violence, incidents and hate crimes it is still not effectively

being used statewide according to reports from people who have been bashed and tried to

report crimes

Allow floats in Parade C

Whilst tentative approval has been given for floats to participate for the first time in this year’s BPF Parade there are several restrictions and we await the outcome to see if it is truly possible.The jury is still out on this one.

Domestic Violence F

There is increasing evidence that Domestic Violence is an issue for LGBT people more so with

females, but there have been no strategies or directives put forward thus far to provide equal and efficient police policy to deal with LGBT DV the same as it should be treated for all other people.

INCREASE OF OFFICERS IN HOT SPOTS (EG VALLEY) D

Queensland police have promised there was an increase in numbers of police “walking the

beat” in nightspots but to date no oficers visit gay and lesbian venues on a regular basis as

part of their patrol to offer crime prevention by visibility

TRAINING LGBT OFFICERS F

Almost all LGBT liason officers statewide have little or no LGBT training. The position is offered as usually hand in hand with a DV officer role and is usually a way to advancement within the job

RECRUITING GLBT PEOPLE FOR POLICE FORCE F

Queensland police currently recruit from many different minority groups to help build a

better police service including indigenous, chinese etc but they refuse to recruit or offer an

explanation of why they will not actively recruit LGBT people despite an estimated 8% of the

population being in the LGBT minority

GLBT TRAINING FOR ALL RECRUITS F

The police training people have stated they have no GLBT people assisting with training of recruits as used to happen several years ago. The reason given is they did not have a budget for such trainers. This is despite the fact that most trainers previously were voluntary

HEALTH

QLD Health releasing the ‘Safe Sex, No Regrets’ campaign C

This was a good general community sexual health campaign, and it was great to see a government campaign targeting this issue. However, the campaign could have had a higher profile and it was a shame, given its subtle nature, that there were such tight restrictions on where it could be promoted (e.g. nowhere where under 16 year olds might see it)
QLD Health HIV statistics for 2007 F

The 2007 HIV report from QLD Health is
long overdue. Although some basic statistics have been released to date, what we really need is a proper analysis of the statistics in order to better plan our prevention work
QLD Health committing an extra $2m per year to HIV/AIDS and STI prevention for the next 4 years B

This is a serious recognition and commitment to HIV and STI prevention work in QLD,
with much needed funding to enhance the capacity of clinical services and community
organisations to engage high risk populations in education, prevention, early detection and
treatment programs.
The implementation of the QLD Ministerial Advisory Committee B
This group was set up to advise the minister on issues resulting from the implementation
of the Queensland HIV, Hepatitis C and STI Strategy. This is a recognition of the key role that
professionals and community organisations play in this field and allows communication
channels between the community and the Minister. However, it was disappointing that the
first meeting was delayed and didn’t happen until October 2008.
Suicide Prevention Programs F

Despite one part of the government making
$100,000 available to prevent youth suicide for young GLBT people if you do not fit into that
categor y then you could wait up to two months currently for urgent assistance from Qld Govt if you have self harm tendancies.

TOURISM

LGBT specialist section. F

Tourism Queensland disbanded the “Gay and Lesbian” tourism section several years ago and has notactively marketed to our community since. There were a few token appearances at fair days, but unlike most other states in Australia they do not believe that the gay and lesbian dollar is worthwhile chasing and most of their information from their website was found to be years out of date including venues that had since closed as the only enticemment.

Events marketing to attract LGBT tourists F

Tourism Queensland trotted out in 2008 a reason, “That gay and lesbian people are not likely to be attracted to Queensland for events” - such as BIG GAY DAY (that attracts around 7,000 people some from overseas) or Brisbane Pride Festival BPF. They believe (unlike all other stetes in Australia) that GLBT people are only attracted to Queensland as a destination and for no other reason.

Marketing overseas F

Tourism Queensland have not had and still do not plan to have an effective marketing campaign to LGBT people overseas. Despite LGBT people being less affected by the economic downturn and being aggressively marketed to by other states Queensland has a NO GO attitude.

YOUTH

LGBT Youth Suicide Prevention Programs A

In 2008 the State Government committed $100,000 to the Open Doors Youth Suicide Project. The project was launched at Parliament House by the Minister for Communities, Lindy Nelson-Carr, who spoke of her personal experiences and indicated that the funding was likely to continue.

Equality with straight counterparts F

In 1990 the Criminal Justice Committee, headed by Peter Beatie conducted a report into age of concent laws and stated: “THE COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS THAT THE AGE OF CONSENT FOR HOMOSEXUAL ACTS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PRINCIPLES OF SEXUAL EQUALITY AND ANTI-DISCRIMINATION BE THE SAME FOR MALES AS IT IS FOR FEMALES, IRRESPECTIVE OF WHETHER THE SEXUAL ACT IS HETEROSEXUAL OR HOMOSEXUAL.” By the end of 2008, Queensland has still not made any amendments to these laws, with Premier Bligh indicating that law changes were not on the Government’s agenda.

Housing & emergency accomodation F

With the closure of Prospect House in Highgate Hill a few years back, Queensland has been left without emergency accomodation and bedding for at risk LGBT youth. Despite lobbying and promised fron the Dept of Housing, no action has been taken.

Education D

Queensland school students are still suffering severe bullying, with a recent survey indicating that 81% of students had been bullied in the past 12 months. Of the bullied students, only 12% reported that the schools took action to stop the bullying. Current school anti-bullying measures do not adequately protect LGBT students. Education QLD needs to take further actions to ensure the safety of LGBT students.