Rainbow community advisory panel gets first tick

Auckland Council’s Community Development and Safety Committee has today supported the establishment of a council Rainbow Community Advisory Panel.

If formally approved, the panel will provide a local government platform from which to effectively address issues of significance to Auckland’s gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex (GLBTI) community.

A report presented at today’s committee meeting highlighted that GLBTI people continue to experience discrimination on an institutional and individual level as well as high levels of addictions, mental health issues and suicide. It also explained that people of diverse gender identity still face legal and social obstacles that impede their ability to lead their lives fully, safely and openly.

Councillor Cathy Casey, Chair of the Community Development and Safety Committee says the panel is a logical and necessary evolution of the Rainbow Door Reference Group established in 2010.

“The Rainbow Door Group has provided an invaluable service by offering an informal forum for both rainbow and mainstream service providers to meet with the council to discuss concerns, issues and opportunities. But it’s time to take that to the next level.”
She says rainbow community in Auckland has been asking for formal representation for many years from successive councils and that the creation of the panel will provide an important voice for the community in the same way other communities are represented.

“Council puts a lot of energy into acknowledging Auckland’s incredible diversity. And rightly so. We have a responsibility to represent all groups within Auckland and I want to ensure we have the widest possible representation of the GLBTI community through the creation of this new panel.”

The purpose of an advisory panel is to provide strategic advice to council on issues of importance to the community it supports, and to advise council on how to engage effectively with that community and its stakeholders.

Four demographic advisory panels were established in the first term of Auckland Council to represent disability, Pacific, ethnic and youth concerns - two by legislation and two on the initiative of the Mayor. A Seniors Advisory Panel has also recently been created to represent the interests of older Aucklanders.

The development of a rainbow community panel was endorsed by Mayor Len Brown at the 2014 Big Gay Out, and again at this year’s event.

The proposal to formally establish the Rainbow Community Advisory Panel will now go to the Governing Body meeting on 30 April for final approval and allocation of budget.

ENDS

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