Is it time for drug and alcohol services to ask about sexuality and gender identity?

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-08-10 03:00

Australia; NSW

Australian alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment services need to ask about sexuality and gender identity, according to Aussie researchers who say the sector is ready and the community needs this change. The team described a case study from the NSW AOD treatment sector, where sexuality and gender identity have been collected since 2016, which helped inform educational tools and training. According to the team, people in the LGBTQ community access AOD treatment services more than the general population, but because Government statistics don’t tend to include this kind of data, treatment providers have no way of ensuring treatment is accessible and effective. Data collection on LGBTQ people using AOD services can help improve the services and make them more inclusive, the researchers say.

Attachments

Note: Not all attachments are visible to the general public. Research URLs will go live after the embargo ends.

Research Wiley-Blackwell, Web page The URL will go live after the embargo ends.

Journal/
conference: Drug and Alcohol Review

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: The University of Sydney

Funder: Conflict of interest statment: JF is employed by ACON, an LGBTQ community health organisation and AOD treatment provider. JM-S is a board member of ACON. SH is employed by NADA, the peak organisation for the nongovernment alcohol and other drugs sector in NSW.

Media Contact/s

Contact details are only visible to registered journalists.