Wear It Purple day - stand up, stand out

30 August 2019

Today is Wear it Purple Day – a chance to celebrate young people who identify as LGBTIQA+ or are questioning their sexuality or gender identity and demand better resourcing to support them.

Wear It Purple Day is an opportunity for everyone to ‘Stand Up, Stand Out’, and stand together with young people and show them they are accepted and celebrated for who they are.

Today is a day to show support for safe, empowering and inclusive environments for LGBTIQA+ students by empowering all students to make change.

However we still have a long way to go. A recent AEU Victoria member survey showed that despite 75% of LGBTIQ+ students experiencing some form of discrimination, public schools do not have access to sufficient mental health support to meet the needs of their students.

According to the Victorian survey:

• Fewer than half of the 3500 school teachers and staff surveyed believed their school had access to appropriate mental health services.

80 per cent of respondents reporting that mental health-related issues had negatively affected student learning at their school

The Morrison Government spends $247 million each year to provide ‘school chaplains’ for ‘the wellbeing of students and school communities through the provision of pastoral care services and strategies delivered by chaplains’. Instead this funding should go to provide qualified teacher-counsellor positions to help foster a safe and inclusive environment for all students, especially those who identify as LGBTIQA+.