Latest news
Latest news
Welcome as you are: VincentCare and VincentCare Community Housing’s new LGBTIQA+ inclusive practice guides
https://youtu.be/iBxvkCaDBus?si=bMRgN4bA1P1VYzQ-
Grant knows what it’s like for the LGBTIQA+ community to experience housing discrimination.
Grant told us:
“There are misconceptions about why gay people are homeless – even from within the community. Like thinking that it’s because we are taking drugs or not working. There was a time that I went to look at private rental apartments with a “girlfriend” so that I didn’t look either single or gay to the agent.”
For LGBTIQA+ people, feeling safe isn’t just about having a roof over her head. It's about finding services where their identity is respected and affirmed.
Stories like Grant 's shaped the development of VincentCare Victoria and VincentCare Community Housing’s comprehensive new LGBTIQA+ inclusive practice guides.
These groundbreaking resources are our commitment to ensuring every person who walks through VincentCare's and VincentCare Community Housing’s doors experiences genuine and affirming support.
LGBTIQA+ people experiencing homelessness face barriers that go far beyond housing. Discrimination in services, safety concerns and past experiences of rejection create additional layers of challenge.
Many have learned to hide parts of themselves just to access basic support. VincentCare and VincentCare Community Housing’s new practice guide acknowledges these realities head-on.
The guides weave inclusive practice throughout every aspect of care delivery. "People need to feel genuinely safe before they can accept help," says Chloe Persing, Senior Manager – Quality and Innovation, who led the development of the guides. "Safety isn't just physical. It's knowing your identity will be respected and affirmed”, she said"
The guides move beyond good intentions to provide concrete resources. VincentCare and VincentCare Community Housing staff and volunteers now have clear guidance on creating welcoming environments, using appropriate language and responding to the specific needs of LGBTIQA+ clients. Key components include intake procedures that respect chosen names and pronouns, guidance on creating physically safe spaces and protocols for supporting clients who have experienced discrimination. Each tool was developed with real-world application in mind.
Perhaps most importantly, the guide was developed with the people who will benefit from it. Co-design principles and approach guided every stage of development, ensuring LGBTIQA+ voices developed and shaped the final resources.
Client involvement in designing services creates better outcomes for everyone.
When services are shaped by the people who use them, they become more responsive, more relevant and more effective.
"Nothing about us, without us" isn't just a slogan here. It's practice.
Cultural safety goes deeper than tolerance or even acceptance. It requires services to examine their own practices, assumptions and power structures.
VincentCare and VincentCare Community Housing’s guide helps staff and volunteers understand how their actions and attitudes impact LGBTIQA+ clients. The guide recognises that many LGBTIQA+ people have experienced rejection from family, discrimination in employment or harassment in public spaces. Some may be accessing services for the first time after years of managing alone.
Creating cultural safety means understanding these experiences and responding with informed care. It means ensuring every interaction builds trust rather than requiring clients to constantly justify their existence.
While the guide focuses specifically on LGBTIQA+ inclusion, its principles benefit everyone accessing VincentCare services. Respectful communication, trauma-informed care and client-centred approaches improve experiences for all clients. The framework also recognises intersectionality. LGBTIQA+ clients may also be Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, people from culturally diverse backgrounds, people with disability or people facing other forms of disadvantage. Inclusive practice means seeing the whole person.
VincentCare Victoria received funding from the Victorian Government through the LGBTIQA+ Organisational Development Grants to develop these resources. This support enabled the comprehensive approach that makes the guide so valuable. But funding was just the beginning. The real work happens in daily interactions between employees, volunteers and clients. It happens when someone's pronouns are used correctly without being asked. It happens when intake forms reflect diverse family structures. It happens when clients feel genuinely welcomed. For people like Grant, these changes mean the difference between accessing help and staying isolated. They mean being able to focus on housing goals rather than managing discrimination. They mean experiencing services that see their whole humanity.
VincentCare and VincentCare Community Housing’s commitment to inclusive practice reflects the truth that everyone deserves support that affirms their dignity. In a world where LGBTIQA+ people still face significant barriers, creating genuinely safe spaces isn't just good practice. It can be lifesaving.
View VincentCare's co-design inclusive practice project here:
VincentCare Inclusive Practice Guide
VincentCare Inclusive Language Guide
VincentCare Process Evaluation Report
Read More
Grant knows what it’s like for the LGBTIQA+ community to experience housing discrimination.
Grant told us:
“There are misconceptions about why gay people are homeless – even from within the community. Like thinking that it’s because we are taking drugs or not working. There was a time that I went to look at private rental apartments with a “girlfriend” so that I didn’t look either single or gay to the agent.”
For LGBTIQA+ people, feeling safe isn’t just about having a roof over her head. It's about finding services where their identity is respected and affirmed.
Stories like Grant 's shaped the development of VincentCare Victoria and VincentCare Community Housing’s comprehensive new LGBTIQA+ inclusive practice guides.
These groundbreaking resources are our commitment to ensuring every person who walks through VincentCare's and VincentCare Community Housing’s doors experiences genuine and affirming support.
LGBTIQA+ people experiencing homelessness face barriers that go far beyond housing. Discrimination in services, safety concerns and past experiences of rejection create additional layers of challenge.
Many have learned to hide parts of themselves just to access basic support. VincentCare and VincentCare Community Housing’s new practice guide acknowledges these realities head-on.
The guides weave inclusive practice throughout every aspect of care delivery. "People need to feel genuinely safe before they can accept help," says Chloe Persing, Senior Manager – Quality and Innovation, who led the development of the guides. "Safety isn't just physical. It's knowing your identity will be respected and affirmed”, she said"
The guides move beyond good intentions to provide concrete resources. VincentCare and VincentCare Community Housing staff and volunteers now have clear guidance on creating welcoming environments, using appropriate language and responding to the specific needs of LGBTIQA+ clients. Key components include intake procedures that respect chosen names and pronouns, guidance on creating physically safe spaces and protocols for supporting clients who have experienced discrimination. Each tool was developed with real-world application in mind.
Perhaps most importantly, the guide was developed with the people who will benefit from it. Co-design principles and approach guided every stage of development, ensuring LGBTIQA+ voices developed and shaped the final resources.
Client involvement in designing services creates better outcomes for everyone.
When services are shaped by the people who use them, they become more responsive, more relevant and more effective.
"Nothing about us, without us" isn't just a slogan here. It's practice.
Cultural safety goes deeper than tolerance or even acceptance. It requires services to examine their own practices, assumptions and power structures.
VincentCare and VincentCare Community Housing’s guide helps staff and volunteers understand how their actions and attitudes impact LGBTIQA+ clients. The guide recognises that many LGBTIQA+ people have experienced rejection from family, discrimination in employment or harassment in public spaces. Some may be accessing services for the first time after years of managing alone.
Creating cultural safety means understanding these experiences and responding with informed care. It means ensuring every interaction builds trust rather than requiring clients to constantly justify their existence.
While the guide focuses specifically on LGBTIQA+ inclusion, its principles benefit everyone accessing VincentCare services. Respectful communication, trauma-informed care and client-centred approaches improve experiences for all clients. The framework also recognises intersectionality. LGBTIQA+ clients may also be Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, people from culturally diverse backgrounds, people with disability or people facing other forms of disadvantage. Inclusive practice means seeing the whole person.
VincentCare Victoria received funding from the Victorian Government through the LGBTIQA+ Organisational Development Grants to develop these resources. This support enabled the comprehensive approach that makes the guide so valuable. But funding was just the beginning. The real work happens in daily interactions between employees, volunteers and clients. It happens when someone's pronouns are used correctly without being asked. It happens when intake forms reflect diverse family structures. It happens when clients feel genuinely welcomed. For people like Grant, these changes mean the difference between accessing help and staying isolated. They mean being able to focus on housing goals rather than managing discrimination. They mean experiencing services that see their whole humanity.
VincentCare and VincentCare Community Housing’s commitment to inclusive practice reflects the truth that everyone deserves support that affirms their dignity. In a world where LGBTIQA+ people still face significant barriers, creating genuinely safe spaces isn't just good practice. It can be lifesaving.
View VincentCare's co-design inclusive practice project here:
VincentCare Inclusive Practice Guide
VincentCare Inclusive Language Guide
VincentCare Process Evaluation Report