Commissioner for Gender and Sexuality, Ro Allen, was in Bairnsdale on Wednesday hosting a workshop to help discuss LGBTIQ inclusion at the TAFE Gippsland campus.

Ro is an experienced and longstanding advocate for LGBTIQ Victorians and has held leadership positions in the community and government sectors.

The LGBTIQ inclusion workshops’ aim is to connect and empower communities in and around Bairnsdale to explore what LGBTIQ inclusion looks like and share experiences, successes and challenges.

The workshop drew on case studies of what is already working across Victoria and inform locals of future work to foster local LGBTIQ inclusion.

The workshop also explored local issues and priorities as the Victorian Government begins to develop a whole of Victorian Government LGBTIQ strategy.

“We’ve been to Bairnsdale before and the workshops are all about giving people the tools on how to do inclusion,” Ro said.

“What we are trying to achieve with these workshops are that people in the LGBTIQ community can feel safe.

“We know that the mental health and wellbeing of the LGBTIQ community is not high.

“Some of us are thriving and doing fabulously, but there are others who aren’t.

“We are just trying to make sure that people are comfortable living as their authentic selves in Bairnsdale and the rest of the region.”

In the past two years Ro and her team have visited 29 towns with the Hume region their next stop.

“My goal is to make Victoria a safer place for the LGBTIQ community,” she said.

PICTURED: Commissioner for Gender and Sexuality, Ro Allen, was in Bairnsdale on Wednesday at Federation Training with a workshop to help discuss LGBTIQ inclusion.