ACON Launches Training For Professionals Supporting LGBTQ People Who Have Experienced Sexual Assault

ACON

Thousands of health, human services, law enforcement and government professionals across NSW will get access to essential online training on supporting LGBTQ people who have experienced sexual assault.

NSW’s leading LGBTQ health organisation, ACON, will provide the training to increase community understanding of LGBTQ people and their experiences with sexual assault, and to assist in improving responses and support.

The LGBTQ Communities and Sexual Assault eLearning program will be provided for free to more than 4000 NSW professionals across a broad range of sectors including domestic and family violence (DFV), homelessness, alcohol and drug, health, mental health, law enforcement, corrections and tertiary education.

It will be delivered by Pride Training, ACON’s consultancy program that specialises in LGBTQ inclusion training and professional development solutions, over the next two years.

ACON CEO Nicolas Parkhill said: “We know that when LGBTQ individuals access some mainstream services when seeking support for experiences of sexual assault, they can encounter barriers that may prevent them from getting appropriate care and support, which can result in poor health outcomes.

“This new training offering from Pride Training will assist professionals and organisations with awareness and understanding of issues uniquely faced by our communities when it comes to sexual assault.”

The online training has been developed with funding from the NSW Government. Since 2015, Women NSW within the Department of Communities and Justice has been supporting ACON’s work in building community awareness of DFV issues within sexuality and gender diverse communities, as well as improving service delivery for LGBTQ people affected by DFV.

The eLearning course is divided into seven different modules that professionals can start and stop at their own time, and feature animations, videos of community members, quizzes, interactive learning components, opportunities to reflect, and pre/post assessments.

Following the completion of the eLearning, ACON will host a webinar for professional wanting to

/Public Release.