Janet Rice (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I, and also on behalf of Senator Siewert, move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes:

(i) that the vast majority of Australians voted for marriage equality in the recent postal survey,

(ii) that the postal survey had a negative impact on the mental health of many LGBTIQ Australians and their families, demonstrated by examples such as Reachout which saw a 40 per cent, and Switchboard which saw a 35 per cent, increase in people accessing their services between August and October 2017,

(iii) that 40 per cent of young LGBTIQ people seeking help are at a higher risk of suicide – almost double the rate for their heterosexual peers,

(iv) that many LGBTIQ people will remain scarred by the traumatic ordeal the Government has put them through by putting their rights to a public popular vote,

(v) the urgent need to address this issue and offer support to the LGBTIQ community, and

(vi) that the marriage equality postal survey came in approximately $20 million under budget; and

(b) calls on the Federal Government to show leadership and spend this unspent postal survey funding on mental health services for LGBTIQ people.