ACON Receives $1.3 Million Grant for LGBTQIA+ Women’s Health

The Albanese Labor Government has confirmed that they’re investing $3.6 million in three women’s health initiatives. And one of these is longstanding NSW LGBTQIA+ health organisation ACON, for their initiative ‘Word on the Sheets’, which works to benefit the health LGBTQIA+ women.

A statement from the Department of Health says the wider grant money, funded through the Public Health and Chronic Disease Program, aims to “enhance the health literacy, reduce risk and improve health outcomes for women who face additional challenges accessing health information”.

The funding will be delivered to three organisations – The Menzies School of Health Research‘s SheLAB program, The National Ageing Research Institute’s MindCare4Women program and ACON’s Word to the Sheets program.

The initiatives will trial new ways to reach women and girls from groups including First Nations women, women in rural Australia, people in the LGBTQIA+ community and women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.”

“Knowledge really is power and giving women the confidence to make informed decisions about their bodies is how we can overcome gender bias in the health system and tackle unmet need,” said Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care Ged Kearney MP in a statement.

“These projects have vastly different approaches and aims, but together they add up to on-the-ground action for Australian women and girls.”

“We know our approach to improving women’s health should include tailored funding for LGBTIQA+ women, culturally and linguistically diverse women, First Nations women, and women with diverse identities”.

‘Word on the Sheets’ supporting LGBTQIA+ women’s health

ACON will receive $1.3 million of the grant money to bolster and promote its ‘Word on the Sheets’ program, an online hub for accessible, inclusive, and relevant sexual and reproductive health information.

The resource is created by and for queer women, because LGBTQIA+ women are a group that experiences additional barriers accessing health information.

Word on the Sheets is a resource to respond to the specific, often un- or under-addressed, sexual and reproductive health needs of LGBTQIA+ women.

The grant funding will expand the existing online service and optimise it for mobile phones, delivering accessible, inclusive and relevant health and lifestyle information.

“This is a significant investment into our LGBTQ+ Women’s Health Program. We’re incredibly grateful to the Australian Government for prioritising communities who are often overlooked or ignored,” said Lee Wang, who is Team Leader of ACON LGBTQ+ Women’s Health Program.

“Our work through Word on the Sheets builds on more than three decades of peer-led health interventions, transferring this wealth of experience and knowledge into the digital landscape.

“This grant will allow ACON to expand the capacity and reach of the Women’s Health Programs and to realise the full potential of Word on the Sheets as a national resource for LGBTQ+ women when it comes to sexual and reproductive health.”

Federal Member for Sydney Tanya Plibersek said that she is “very pleased” about the grant money for the ACON initiative.

“The Albanese Government is delivering strong health support, on the ground, for women in our community who may need it the most.

“I’m very pleased that ACON Health, based in my electorate, will receive $1.3 million for Word on the Sheets to respond to the sexual and reproductive health needs of LGBTQ+ women, which can so often be ignored or overlooked.”

You can learn more about the Word on the Sheets by ACON here.