A unique and dedicated LGBTIQ specialist mental health and wellbeing centre is now open, offering psychological counselling, family and relationship counselling, occupational therapy and sex therapy in a safe and supportive environment. 

Based on a new model of care, the centre will also aim to help link people into legal, jobs and housing support – important connections for a group of people who experience discrimination in many areas of their lives. 

The Mind Equality Centre in North Fitzroy will celebrate its official opening on 23 May with special guests Minister for Mental Health and Equality Martin Foley and transgender entertainer Jordan Raskopoulos. 

“This is an incredibly proud moment for Mind,” said Bronwyn Lawman, Mind’s Executive Director of Operations. 

“The LGBTIQ community have the highest rate of suicide in Australia and much higher rates of mental illness than the general population. (Rosenstreich, 2011) 

“We are also seeing high rates of LGBTIQ people experiencing anxiety, depression and high impact disorders such as bi-polar disorder, psychosis and a range of trauma related conditions. 

“Young LGBTIQ people in particular are struggling, with twice as many likely to engage in self-injury (than the general population), and that figure doubles for those identifying as transgender. 

“Mind is making it a priority to help fill the gap and roll out a model of care that meets both the mental health and wellbeing needs of the LGBTIQ community, but also provides strong linkages to other services,” Ms Lawman said. 

Minister for Mental Health and Equality Martin Foley said, “The vision and efforts of the Mind Equality Centre is to be commended. We know access to health services is a genuine barrier for the LGBTIQ community – and we need to see more leadership like Mind’s to overcome this. It’s great to see a model of care that looks at the whole person and aims to provide pathways to the right kinds of support.” 

The Mind Equality Centre is the result of collaboration with the Northside Clinic, Darebin and Banyule Councils, the North Western PHN, Monash Health, Transgender Victoria and WorkingOUT, and is staffed by skilled professionals who know what it means to live in the LGBTIQ community. 

“Key to the work we are doing is the establishment of strong relationships. We are already working closely with mainstream and other LGBTIQ-focused clinical services to establish strong pathways to the centre, in particular, the gender dysphoria clinics and Primary Health Networks (PHNs). We also look forward to building links with other social services,” Ms Lawman said. 

The Mind Equality Centre is located at 366 St Georges Road, North Fitzroy. People from any geographic location are welcome. The fee structure accommodates people with a range of financial situations.

If this article raises concerns for you, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders can also call 13 YARN (13 92 76) a 24/7 national crisis support telephone service staffed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. 

If you would like more information about Mind services near you, please contact us via Mind Connect or phone: 1300 286 463.