A $700,000 national project featuring researchers from Murdoch’s Kulbardi Aboriginal Centre is investigating the mental health needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex or queer.

The project will begin with an open consultation phase beginning early 2019, with the team seeking to hear about the many and diverse experiences that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTIQ young people may be having with health services around Australia.

Murdoch’s Director for Aboriginal Education, Equity and Inclusion, Braden Hill, and Kulbardi Post-Doctoral Research Fellow Bep Uink are co-investigators in the project, led by Telethon Kids Institute researchers, who will use a $716,000 grant from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).

Dr Ashleigh Lin, head of Mental Health & Youth research at the Institute, and team received the grant in the latest round of NHMRC funding, announced by Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt.

The project was one of five chosen following a targeted call by the NHMRC for research into Indigenous Social and Emotional Wellbeing (SEWB). The chosen projects will share in a total of $5.5 million of funding.

Mr Hill said the diverse make-up of the research team – which includes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers, non-Aboriginal researchers, LGBTIQ researchers, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTIQ researchers – was a notable strength of the project.

The research is a valuable continuation of research currently underway at the Kulbardi Centre, including a $70,000 Heathway exploratory research grant awarded for research into health service provision for Indigenous LGTIQ people.

“This research will bring a national focus to what is an incredibly important area,” Mr Hill said. “It’s a continuation of Kulbardi’s work investigating the social-emotional wellbeing of young Australians. We know we have a significant responsibility to bring the voices of the Indigenous LGBTIQ to the fore and look forward to doing that as part of this project.”

Dr Lin and fellow Telethon Kids mental health researcher Dr Yael Perry will work with Kulbardi, Western Sydney University, and the suicide prevention not-for-profit Black Rainbow organisation to hear from young people whose experiences and needs have until now been poorly understood by the broader health services sector.

“We know that being Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, being young, and being LGBTIQ are all risk factors for poor mental health and suicide, but there’s really not very much known about what happens when you are a member of all three of these groups,” Dr Lin said.

“The research is almost non-existent. However, anecdotally, these young people are often marginalised from the LGBTIQ community. There are also cultural concerns that can lead to exclusion from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

“This project aims to better understand the social and emotional needs of this group and the barriers they face when accessing health services. We will then work with them to co-design appropriate interventions to improve their mental health and wellbeing.”

Dr Lin said it was difficult to say how many young Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people aged 15-24 identified as LGBTIQ, but it was thought the figure likely exceeded 17,000 across Australia.

Image caption: Kulbardi Aboriginal Centre’s Braden Hill and Bep Uink join national research team