Coming In: Inclusive Practice Strategies for People from Refugee Backgrounds with Diverse Bodies, Genders and Sexualities
This one-day workshop focuses on building understanding of the specific issues faced by people with asylum seeker and refugee background who are LGBTIQ+, including strengths, vulnerabilities and the risks experienced in their home countries, during the journey and resettling in Australia. It will highlight the multiple oppressions faced, and explore the diversity of needs and experiences that are grouped under the LGBTIQ+ framework. Coming In will increase awareness of how to identify assumptions or biases that may impact negatively on the provision of effective assistance, and how to enhance the ability to work in partnership with LGBTIQ+ clients with the aim of enabling services to become more safe and welcoming for all their clients.
Content includes:
- Expectations and guiding principles
- Definitions, identity and diversity
- Who are LGBTIQ+ refugees and asylum seekers?
- The biopsychosocial and systemic impacts of refugee trauma and torture
- The complex challenges of refugee trauma, dislocation, resettlement and cultural transition
- Worker skills: Key principles and techniques
- Self-refection
This workshop is available upon request. Please go to the ‘Request Training‘ page for further information about workshop fees and how to make a request for your workplace. Please note that requests need to be made and confirmed at least 6-8 weeks in advance as we do get booked up.
Relevant to anyone interested in the issues faced by people from refugee backgrounds and people seeking asylum who identify as LGBTQI+.
Heather Grace Jones
FICT Project Officer/ LGBTQI Project Trainer
Heather Grace Jones is a broadcaster, author and community development expert. She has over twenty years’ experience in communications, including daily journalism, documentary production, public awareness campaign management, social media, journalism and media training and advocacy, and gender mainstreaming. For the past decade she has been working in Australia, Afghanistan and Pakistan on social justice issues with a focus on media development, media and technology and women’s rights. Strategic work includes awareness-raising for a variety of audiences including journalists, civil society organisations and academia. She has managed and run workshops and campaigns on the elimination of violence against women, regional trade agreements, alternative livelihoods and chronic poverty facing women.
Ms Jones has advised and mentored high level Government officials in Afghanistan on media relations including skill specific coaching and developing strategies for delivering Ministry-related stories and dealing with a politically complex media. She is skilled at dealing with a broad range of stakeholders including the public, government, international donors, civil society, and the corporate world.
Ms Jones’ development experience has given her a clear insight into how resources can be targeted and well-deployed. She has extensive experience in hands on training in Universities in Australia and Internationally including UTS, Macquarie University, Bamyan University and the University of Peshawar. She has also trained in the community and international development context working with a broad range of participants including civil society and journalists. She has provided program implementation for media development and written national communications’ strategies for Ministries. She is also experienced in the development of program strategies, frameworks and systems, development of staff, and alliance building and networking with other agencies.
Ms Jones has over five years’ experience in technical project management and has managed a project staff of over 80 people. Ms Jones is a professional writer who has co-authored two books. She is currently on the board of Zardozi Markets for Afghanistan and is a member of the Families in Cultural Transition team in STARTTS working with people with refugee backgrounds including people with diverse genders, sexualities and bodies.
A certificate for the workshop can be emailed to the participants after the event if the organisation supplies an Excel sheet with the First Name, Last Name and Email address of every participant listed.
Email: stts-training@health.nsw.gov.au
Phone: (02) 9646 6700 Ask for the Training Administration Officer