About Us
Vision
LGBTI elders should be welcomed and feel safe to be themselves in all environments and with all services.
Older LGBTI people will enjoy a rewarding quality of life, feeling safe and confident to express their diversity.
Mission
To create a responsive and inclusive mature age environment that promotes and supports a quality life for older people of diverse sexualities and gender identities.
C.S. Lewis
GRAI was formed in 2005 in response to fears from older LGBTI community members that they would have to ‘return to the closet’ as they aged because aged care services were believed to be unwelcoming of LGBTI people.
In 2010 GRAI worked with Curtin University to research attitudes within the residential sector regarding LGBTI people. The report, ‘We don’t have any of those people here’, demonstrated that the aged care sector was poorly prepared to serve people of diverse gender identities and sexualities.
Together with others around Australia, GRAI advocated for law reform to protect the rights of LGBTI older people. GRAI’s research provided an important foundation for this successful law reform campaign, which, among other things, established ‘Special Needs’ status for LGBTI people in aged care. Consequently, aged care providers are obliged to provide LGBTI-inclusive service in order to comply with the amended Aged Care Act.
At the present time, GRAI is federally funded to deliver LGBTI inclusivity training to the aged care and allied – health sectors. The ‘Right to Belong’ training is regularly delivered to frontline staff in metro and regional aged care facilities, and the Silver Rainbow Community of Practice program is delivered to Managers and CEOs to assist them to change policy and practice throughout an organisation.
Loneliness becomes a significant issue for many LGBTI people as they age. Friendship, and particularly the friendship of other LGBTI people, is very important, because it can provide safety and recognition. In response to this need, GRAI has obtained funding for a Village Hub and Befriending Service. A central objective is to bring isolated and lonely LGBTI people aged 50+ together for social and supportive activities.
As the first of its kind in Australia, GRAI’s Befriending programme aims to reach isolated and lonely older LGBTI people, and to pair them up with an LGBTI peer for regular company and support. In addition to one-one-one visits and outings, befriending pairs are invited to attend Village Hub activities that cater to the interests and needs of older LGBTI people (as guided by the Elders’ Advisory Group).
In 2022, GRAI initiated this inaugural survey of LGBTI people 50+ years living in WA as part of its Village Hub program. The intention of the survey was to seek the views of older LGBTI people to guide the development and direction of the GRAI Village Hub.
The survey sought to provide a snapshot of the physical, emotional and mental health, financial wellbeing, housing security, loneliness and social connections of LGBTI people over 50. We also asked questions to identify the types of social activities older LGBTI people were interested in engaging with and what was a barrier to engaging in social activities.
The survey provides an evidence base on the current wellbeing of older LGBTI people that GRAI can use to support future funding applications. It will also be used to inform the range of future social events and activities that GRAI will offer to the older LGBTI community.
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We are blessed to live on Whadjuk Noongar Country. We acknowledge that Noongar people remain the custodians of their Country, and that they continue to practice their values, languages, cultures, beliefs and knowledge. We pay our respects to the Elders and knowledge holders of the Country on which we live, work, love and travel.
GRAI honours the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex pioneers and respect the full diversity of our communities. We recognise the prejudice and trauma many LGBTI people experience and celebrate our strength and perseverance.
A note on terminology: GRAI uses the initialism LGBTI to refer to older people (50+) of diverse genders, sexualities and sex characteristics, as this reflects their lived experience and recognises that some terms like ‘queer’ were used as a slur when they were younger. GRAI recognises that the initialism does not capture the full diversity of sexualities, bodies, identities, cultures, and experiences that exist within our community, however we also recognise the value of the term LGBTI when exploring collective experiences of stigma, discrimination, and marginalisation, and when advocating for LGBTI rights and inclusivity for older people. GRAI also uses LGBTQIA+/LGBTQI+ when referring to a younger cohort or citing Government documents to align with the terminology.
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