Australia’s leading youth mental health organisations have released a joint statement in response to the result of the marriage equality postal survey. We believe it is important to disseminate this information as widely as possible, so we have reproduced the statement, verbatim.
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We applaud the majority ‘YES’ vote in the same sex marriage survey. This is a momentous day in Australian history.
61.6 per cent of Australians have voted to legislate in favour of marriage equality. This is a resounding “YES”.
We thank the Australian public for voting with the facts in mind. This result affirms for young LGBTIQ Australians that they have a bright and positive future in this country, and that their mental wellbeing is a priority.
Now we have this result, it is time to unite and end the negativity.
We also call on our leaders and Parliament to deliver on legislating marriage equality by the end of 2017 – a great way to start fresh in the New Year for the LGBTIQ community and Australia.
We know the distress caused by the postal survey does not end with this result, and remind young Australians that mental health services and support are available.
ReachOut has today released new online resources to support the result, and its forums are a safe space to work through the result, celebrate and vent.
Young people going through a tough time can also visit any of the 100 headspace centres across Australia or visit their website.
You can also find a number of resources for help-seeking here on our website.
If you are feeling distress and are in immediate need of help, please contact:
EMERGENCY SERVICES – 000
OR Lifeline – 13 11 14
OR Kids Helpline – 1800 55 1800
Statement on behalf of:
Professor Helen Christensen, Director and Chief Scientist, Black Dog Institute
Jason Trethowan, CEO, headspace
Professor Pat McGorry AO, Executive Director Orygen, The National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health
Jono Nicholas, CEO, ReachOut
Professor Ian Hickie AM, Co-Director, The University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Centre.
