Living Proud is the WA partner for QLife. QLife is a national lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ+) peer support and referral service. QLife provides a nation-wide, early intervention, peer supported telephone and web based service to diverse people of all ages experiencing poor mental health, psychological distress, social isolation, discrimination, experiences of being misgendered and/or other social determinants that impact on their health and well-being.
We help callers with a range of issues relating to sexuality and gender, including coming out, as well as more general issues, such a relationship problems or simply a safe space to chat.
This service is often the first point of contact for people who are coming out, but it is available to anyone, no matter how they identify. Our service is also increasingly being used by the friends and family of LGBTIQ+ people and mainstream service providers who are seeking accurate information and referral options for their relatives, friends or patients.
The service is confidential and staffed by trained peer volunteers. The phone line runs between 3pm and 12pm AEST. [please see below for upcoming changes]
Online web chat support is also available during these times.
To contact QLife via phone, call 1800 184 527. To access QLife’s web chat service visit qlife.org.au.
Additionally, if you’d like to hear people talk about their experiences of being LGBTIQ+, visit QLife’s video project, QLives.
Changes to QLife opening hours from Monday 1st December
We know how hard it can be to get through to QLife, particularly in the later hours. The reality is: resourcing is limited, demand for QLife services is soaring, and we’re struggling to keep up.
We pride ourselves in delivering accessible, safe, high-quality, support to LGBTIQA+SB communities across Australia, and part of that means recognising our limitations.
That’s why, from Monday 1st December, our opening hours will change to 3pm-9pm in each state’s local time.
Making this change now means we can concentrate our resources and focus on strengthening how we operate, making other improvements to help us get to your calls and webchats more quickly. This includes updates to our systems, processes, coordination, and building up our amazing volunteer workforce.
We know that this isn’t the best news, and we wish it was a different story too. It’s important to us that our communities have access to support when it’s most needed. We’ve listed some options below, and you can also chat with our peer supporters to build out your personal support plan.
We hope this isn’t forever, and alongside the improvements we’re working on, we’re advocating for additional resourcing to allow us to better serve our communities.
If you have questions, feedback or concerns: visit www.qlife.org.au/feedback, or email us on ask@qlife.org.au
Want to donate to support QLife? Visit www.qlife.org.au/donate
Interested in becoming a QLife volunteer? Visit www.qlife.org.au/volunteer-with-qlife to learn more.
Living Proud acknowledges the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia, their diversity, histories and knowledge and their continuing connections to land and community. We pay our respects to all Australian Indigenous Peoples and their cultures, and to Elders of past and present.
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