October is LGBTQ History Month. Today we have a bonus post in honour of National Coming Out Day. Social science studies can help organisations implement meaningful change to improve services for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA+) youth.

The following research provides recommendations to make improvements in education, health, and welfare services. We focus on queer youth who are First Nations, refugees and asylum seekers, and those experiencing homelessness.

Schools

Psychologists, Ella Dingle and Joel R. Anderson, find:

“…[S]chool-based sexuality education in Australia is profoundly non-inclusive, heteronormative, and cisnormative, failing to represent or meet the needs of LGBTQIA+ students.”

The researchers show:

• Curriculum is less likely to cover sexual and gender diversity
• LGBTQIA+ students think sex ed is not relevant due to exclusion
• Inclusive schools, affirming teachers, and early school exposure have positive impact

First Nations

Shakara Liddelow-Hunt, a Yamatji person and health researcher who grew up on Noongar country, and colleagues suggest:

“Implement a social and emotional well-being approach… frequently adopted in Aboriginal research and health practice.”

The researchers recommend:

• Attracting and retaining Aboriginal LGBTQIA+ staff
• Providing staff with training on diversity of Aboriginal LGBTQIA+ youth, and impact of sociohistorical and current contexts that impact health
• Engaging Aboriginal LGBTQA+ youth in service decisions

Refugees and asylum seekers

The Multicultural Youth Advocacy Network argue:

“Implementing an action plan to ensure organisations hold themselves accountable to LGBTQIA+ refugee and asylum seeker inclusion policies, recruitment strategies and service delivery.”

The report recommends:

• Supporting tailored services for LGBTQIA+ refugees and asylum seekers
• Providing these services ongoing funding
• Meaningfully including youth’s lived experiences in policies and programs
• Strengthening legal protections
• Providing resources and cross-referral pathways in multiple languages

Queer people who are homeless

Sociologist, Gene Lim, and colleagues identify:

“Experiences of homelessness appear to be particularly pervasive among youth who are: (i) trans and gender-diverse, (ii) disabled and (iii) who reside outside of urban centres.”

Their study suggests:

• Interventions must consider the unique needs of sub-groups
• Trans and queer youth who are homeless are profoundly impacted by discrimination
• Racial and ethnic minorities face significant difficulty accessing LGBTQIA+ support due to racism

References

• Ella Dingle and Joel R. Anderson (2026) ‘A Scoping Review Exploring LGBTQIA+ Student Perspectives on the Inclusivity and Effectiveness of School-Based Sexuality Education in Australia,’ Journal of Homosexuality, 1–53.
• Shakara Liddelow-Hunt, Ashleigh Lin, Yael Perry, Braden Hill, and Bep Uink (2026) ‘Ensuring That Marginalised Young People Feel Welcome, Understood, and Empowered in Health Services: A Qualitative Examination of the Service Needs of Aboriginal LGBTQA+ Young People,’ Qualitative Health Research, 36(8): 849-863.
• Multicultural Youth Advocacy Network (2023) ‘Counting Us In’: MYAN Report on the Settlement Experiences of LGBTQI+ Refugee and Asylum Seeker Young Adults. Carlton: MYAN.
• Gene Lim, G. J. Melendez-Torres, Natalie Amos, Joel Anderson, Thomas Norman, Jennifer Power, Jami Jones, and Adam Bourne (2025) ‘Demographic Predictors of Experiences of Homelessness Among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Gender-diverse and Queer-identifying (LGBTIQ) Young People in Australia, Journal of Youth Studies, 28(1): 254–280.

Notes

This post was previously published on our Instagram.

The Aboriginal artwork on the second slide (top) is by Kamilaroi artist who grew up on Bundjalung land, Katie Bugden Art (via Canva).