A new digital information and resource platform, TransHub, has been launched for all trans and gender diverse (TGD) people in NSW, their loved ones, allies and health providers.
Launched to help mark the International Trans Day of Visibility (31 March), TransHub is an initiative from ACON, NSW’s leading health organisation specialising in community health, inclusion and HIV responses for people of diverse sexualities and genders.
TransHub has emerged over the last nine months in response to TGD community concerns over difficulties in accessing appropriate information, particularly in relation to gender affirmation and health. Addressing these concerns was a key action in ACON’s Blueprint for Improving the Health and Wellbeing of the Trans and Gender Diverse Community in NSW, released in 2019.
The online platform includes comprehensive and inclusive information to support the health of TGD people, including sexual and reproductive health, mental health, cancer screening, substance use, domestic violence and sexual assault.
ACON’s Manager for Trans & Gender Diverse Health Equity, Teddy Cook said: “TransHub offers the information that many of us so desperately needed but didn’t have access to as we met our most authentic selves. This platform has been written by TGD people, for TGD people. There is no single right way to be trans but all trans people deserve access to the right information in order to make informed decisions about how we might seek to affirm who we are.”
TransHub has been developed with support from a range of community, clinical and specialist partners and content produced by local TGD writers, designers, photographers and artists, as well as allied contributors.
“It was important to us that we collaborated with as many different trans people as possible and have proudly consulted, created opportunities for, commissioned and supported hundreds of community members to bring TransHub to life,” Cook said. “We also partnered with a number of leading specialist organisations, clinicians and allies to ensure TransHub is accurate, evidence-based and accessible for those who will benefit from using it.”
Co-Executive Director of Twenty10, Jain Moralee said: “Twenty10 is thrilled to partner with ACON on TransHub. Reliable, accessible resources are so valuable for our communities and connecting young trans people, including those that are gender diverse and non-binary, to contemporary, accurate information is incredibly important.”
“TransHub will also support mainstream spaces, including schools, to provide safer spaces and service provision, which is paramount to the health and wellbeing of our young TGD communities.”
Co-founders of Parents of Gender Diverse Children, Keryn and Meagan, said: “Empowering parents and families to understand, be well informed, and build skills as allies are vital parts of building a strong, safe and affirming community for trans and gender diverse people.
“Giving parents and families information and support equips them to extend that support to their loved ones. Trans Hub will allow families to have a shared understanding of the power of celebrating and embracing their child’s gender journey, and we are so proud to be part of it.”
Central to TransHub is person-centred, human rights focussed information about social, medical and legal gender affirmation, visitors can find information on a diverse range of issues experienced by the TGD community, such as coming out, understanding dysphoria, finding a doctor, navigating government agencies like Centrelink and the ATO, updating gender markers on birth certificates, and much more.
TransHub’s allies section provides information to partners, friends, employers, educators and colleagues, and the clinician’s section addresses creating welcoming environments, gender-affirming hormones, surgical interventions and providing patient-centred care. The site also includes a comprehensive language guide, and a portal for community members and clinicians to centrally access the resources available throughout the website.
ACON Board Director Dr Atari Metcalf said the launch of TransHub builds on ongoing efforts by ACON to better serve and advocate for TGD communities.
“In 2018, ACON made a public commitment to improving the health outcomes of TGD people. Our 2019 Blueprint for Improving the Health and Wellbeing of the TGD Community in NSW gave us a plan of action from which TransHub was developed. This ground breaking and long overdue platform will give TGD people, our supporters and allies the tools and information needed to help support, nurture and strengthen our health and wellbeing.
“ACON is excited to launch TransHub on Trans Day of Visibility, a day that’s all about celebrating and empowering TGD people and communities. We are proud to continue to work with our communities in strengthening the health and wellbeing of TGD people,” Metcalf said.
Visit TransHub at transhub.org.au.
