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Creating a welcoming and safe organisation for trans and gender diverse children and their families: A checklist for allied health services

Susanne Prosser, Australia, August 2019

Related to Gender and sexuality

Resource Summary

Download a printable copy of Creating a welcoming and safe organisation for trans and gender diverse children and their families: A checklist for allied health services

A child and their family who has been using your service for some time tells you that they have affirmed or are in the process of affirming their gender.

They are not accessing your service for support to affirm their gender; they are simply letting you know about this change in their life.

This checklist will help you to create a safe and welcome environment for trans and gender diverse children and their families. For more information, check out our practice paper, Supporting trans and gender diverse children and their families.

Do affirm, acknowledge and celebrate their decision.

Don’t ask probing questions about their decision.

Don’t tell everyone in the organisation about this child.

Do talk with the child and their family about who does need to know, including administration staff who will work to change relevant documentation so that the child is not misgendered or misnamed.

Do ask yourself, and the child and family, how or where their gender is relevant to the service that you are providing. It is likely that the service you provide the child is the same, whatever their gender identity.

Do look at what forms might need adjusting.

Don’t feel you need to inform other clients. This is confidential and does not impact on them.

Do assure the child that they can use the toilet that they feel most comfortable using.

Don’t inform other clients that a trans person is using a particular toilet.

Do some of your own research and become more informed about the trans and gender diverse community. Our trans and gender diverse support referral matrix is a good place to start.

Don’t use the family as an opportunity to ask every question you have ever had about trans or gender diverse people.

Do ask what other things the family would like you to do to support them and to make them feel more comfortable using the service.

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