Published on 9 November 2023
Transgender Awareness Week, 13 to 19 November, is an annual week to raise the visibility of trans and gender diverse people and address issues these members of the community face.
Globally, trans and gender diverse communities are disproportionately affected by prejudice-motivated discrimination and violence. The health and wellbeing outcomes of people with trans and gender diverse experience are directly related to transphobic stigma, prejudice, discrimination and abuse, including when incorrect language is used.
While being trans or gender diverse is not an inherent risk factor to poorer health outcomes, this is often the outcome due to the way they are treated in a healthcare setting.
Gender influences peoples’ experience of and access to healthcare. The way that health services are organised and provided, can either limit or enable a person’s access to healthcare information, support, services and the outcome of those encounters. Health services should be appropriate, affordable and accessible to all, ensuring all patients are treated with dignity and respect.
A recent La Trobe University study ‘Healthcare failing transgender people’, found that one in five participants had been refused access to general healthcare. Additional findings were:
- 1 in 4 participants reported not having a health professional with a good understanding of their healthcare needs and preferences
- 41 percent of those requiring emergency care had at some point avoided going because they were trans or gender diverse
- 14 percent of study participants had been verbally harassed within a healthcare setting
- 6 percent experienced unwanted sexual contact
- 2 percent had been physically attacked.
These experiences can have long lasting impacts on physical and mental health and overall wellbeing.
During Transgender Awareness Week, Western Health is focused on raising awareness and educating our staff and the broader community on who transgender people are, share stories and experiences, and advance advocacy around the issues of prejudice, discrimination and violence, that affect the transgender community.
Western Health is committed to providing a safe environment, and appropriate care to trans and gender diverse people who access our health services, as a safe, inclusive space for trans and gender diverse people to access quality healthcare without stigma, judgement or discrimination.
To recognise Transgender Awareness Week 2023, Western Health is providing:
-
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Education In-services
Available from 13 November, these in-services currently cover three topics; understanding sex, gender and gender diversity, pronouns and inclusive language. Additional in-service topics will become available in early 2024. Inclusion is all of our responsibility and we are proud to be able to offer this education opportunity to all of our staff. To find out more about these in-services, submit an enquiry form: Western Health In-service Request Form
-
Patient pronoun stickers
Coming soon, pronoun stickers are colourful, large and easily visible to staff. These stickers support our staff to use correct pronouns and inclusive language when caring for our patients. Patient pronouns stickers will be available to all patient facing wards, units and emergency departments. Request patient pronoun stickers for your ward, unit or department.
-
LGBTIQA+ inclusive pride flag stickers, pronoun stickers and genderbread person posters
Available for all staff, these stickers can be used to show support of the LGBTIQA+ community by being placed on your staff ID badge or name tag. Genderbread person posters are also available to staff to display in your wards, tea rooms and meeting rooms. These posters are fun, helpful and informative. Request stickers or posters for your team.
-
Microsoft Teams profile pronouns
-
Westerly updates
All internal staff resources on the Westerly have now been updated with the latest information, this includes Gender Equality at Western Health, What is Gender. Exploring Gender Diversity, Pronouns 101: What are they and why are they so important and the Glossary.
-
Further resources
Trans Awareness Week | Minus18
Transgender Awareness Week – Pride in Health + Wellbeing
Pronouns 101 – ACON Pride Training
Language Guide – Say It Out Loud
A guide to using pronouns at work
What are pronouns and why are they important? | Minus18
Trans People -ACON – We are New South Wales’ leading HIV and LGBTQ+ health organisation.
Transgender Awareness Week Teams/Zoom backgrounds and email signatures
Staff can show their support by using Transgender Awareness Week Microsoft Teams/Zoom backgrounds and email signatures. Add these backgrounds to your Teams/Zoom profile for all of your meetings during Transgender Awareness Week and encourage your colleagues to do the same. Email signatures can be added to your usual email signature and be used throughout Transgender Awareness Week. There are options for general Transgender Awareness Week backgrounds and email signatures as well as options to display your pronouns. Save the image to your computer to update your background or email signature.
Email Signatures
-
She/Her
-
He/Him
-
She/They
-
He/They
-
They/Them
ZOOM Backgrounds
-
She/Her
-
He/Him
-
She/They
-
He/They
-
They/Them
Need helping changing your virtual background?
Click here for a video guide.
You will need to download one of the background images below and save it to your computer, so that you can upload it to your virtual backgrounds.
If your preview image isn’t showing up the right way around, make sure you unclick the button that says: ‘mirror my screen’