Diversity and Inclusion Statement

Purpose

The purpose of this statement is to ensure that the principles of diversity and inclusion are integrated with and underpin all aspects of our work. These principles inform all the services, programs and health campaigns that we deliver to our clients and participants, as well as the way we treat our staff and volunteers.

Our commitment to diversity and inclusion impacts how we work collaboratively with, and advocate for people engaging with our services, acknowledging their unique strengths, skills and expertise. Our commitment also underpins the way in which we design our programs and services and ensures a collaborative co-design model is embedded in everything we do.

Policy statement

Access to healthcare that supports people to achieve the highest attainable level of health and well-being is a human right.

Our commitment to diversity and inclusion is aimed at actively addressing stigma and discrimination in all its forms including homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, racism, sexism, ageism, and ableism. We are committed to providing health and well-being services for our communities and to actively address service access barriers, particularly for those experiencing social or economic marginalisation.

Our Vision, Values and Code of Conduct underpin all that we do.

We will continue to deliver services that seek to support the most disadvantaged in the community and to work in partnership with diverse communities in ways that are respectful and culturally safe.

Our communities are inclusive of:

• Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Gender Diverse, Intersex and Queer people
• People Living with HIV (PLHIV)
• People with Disabilities
• Injecting Drug Users
• Sex Workers
• Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) people
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Intersectionality

Intersectionality refers to the ways in which different aspects of a person’s identity can expose them to overlapping forms of discrimination and marginalisation.

We strongly support, affirm and celebrate people’s right to identify with multiple communities and we recognise and understand that people’s intersectional experiences can place them at a higher risk of discrimination and victimisation, with resulting negative effects on health and wellbeing.

We create and sustain strong and enduring community partnerships to ensure that our services are accessible to all members of the community, regardless of identity, belief or socio-economic status.

We are committed to, and value, diversity in our workforce and our community and strive to treat all people with courtesy and dignity, recognising each person’s right to privacy and self-determination.

Thorne Harbour Health has always been a community-controlled organisation and will always include our communities in the policy and service development processes of the organisation. We strive to create a workplace where staff and volunteers seek out, value and utilise the contributions of people with different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives.

Service principles

• To provide healthcare services that promote respect for the individual with a commitment to dignity and a person’s right to choose.
• To ensure we facilitate access to our services irrespective of a person’s sexuality, gender, ability, race, religion, politics or age.
• To provide services to clients who are affected by trauma, violence, abuse, stigma, discrimination, hardship, homelessness, and/or social and economic exclusion.
• To encourage client and community participation, co-design and feedback processes that improve service quality and safety and recognise the value of our communities.
• To improve our service delivery, effectiveness and efficiency through transparent and accountable continuous service improvement processes.
• To help clients access the complaints, compliments and feedback mechanisms of the organisation, to take any complaint, compliment or feedback seriously, and to provide responses in a timely manner.
• To treat client information in line with the highest privacy standards and to maintain confidentiality (within the limits of the law).

Consumer & Community Participation Principles

• To foster awareness and respect for the diversity of cultures and lifestyles across our communities.
• To recognise how intersectionality compounds the lived experience for LGBTI people and PLHIV, and to support these communities to:
  • access our services safely
  • choose the services or support options that best suit them
  • meaningfully contribute to service development and design,
  • build strategies to reduce stigma and discrimination.
• To advocate for the meaningful involvement of PLHIV and all affected communities in all aspects of the HIV response.
• To support empowerment and promote sustainability, cohesiveness and holistic well-being.
• To value a diversity of input from our communities in developing integrated responses to identified needs.
• To recognise the rights of community members and to support community members to participate in the decision-making processes that affect them.
• To increase social participation by building communities and encouraging their promotion.
• To develop tailored communication strategies that are responsive and relevant to individual communities.

V1.0 (23/09/2020)