My Trans Health Action Group Takes Shape

[Melody Moore]

Here is the first article in the media about me and why I have formed a national trans health
action group and will calling on our Federal Government though a media campaign in the lead
up to an election to deliver reforms to the health care system to provide adequate support &
medical services in Australia for the trans community.

http://www.starobserver.com.au/news/2012/04/26/trans-action-group-takes-shape/76221

Also see our petition on these very important Human rights issues:
http://www.change.org/petitions/australian-human-rights-commission-medicare-australian-government-should-help-fund-sex-reassignment-surgery

[Melody Moore]

Here is another article about TransCare Australia which is the new initiative I started that focuses on exclusively
on addressing issues that affect the health and well being of transsexual, transgender & gender diverse people.

http://lexiecannes.wordpress.com/2012/04/27/new-australian-transgender-health-action-group-hopes-to-reverse-dismal-conditions/

Many trans people I have consulted with seem very keen to reclaim the T from the LGBTIQ alphabet soup because
our needs and issues are getting lost in the LGBTIQ mix. Misrepresentation of the trans community along with the
misappropriation of funding given to help the trans community seems rife within LGBTIQ organisations who claim to
support the health & well being of the trans community. There is one case I know of where an LGBT NGO has claimed
to have spent funding on training for service providers, but there has never been a list of those that have received
training released to show the community this is how the money was really spent. The trans community also doubts
the effectiveness of such training when it was apparently delivered by cisgendered people from the LGB community.

A report from La Trobe University into the health and well being of the LGBT community (http://www.glhv.org.au/files/PrivateLives2Report.pdf) was released
on the 3rd of April 2012, the same very day that Jessica Johnson attempted her own DIY SRS procedure (http://www.transcairns.org/jessicajohnson/)
which has brought trans health & well being right into the spot light on a global scale. A trans health &
well being survey (https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/transmentalhealth) has also just been released recently in the UK.

Important mental health issues need to be addressed long before worrying about service providers and one focus I
have within my new national organisation is setting up a Self Harm & Suicide Prevention Program that will help to save
lives while we are still trying to address all these other issues. One of my interstate delegates is trying to get funding
so she then can qualify our own network of suicide prevention officers that will eventually make up a national network.

TransCare Australia will also apply for funding, but we will make sure that there is full transparency within the organisation
so people can see how the money was spent. We don't have any transparency like this with these LGBTIQ NGOs who have
been so neglectful of how they address trans health and well being issues.

Because I have been involved in the conceptualisation and initial planning for the Qld Transgender, Sister Girl & Gender Diverse
Conference that will be held here in Cairns in August this year, I have a good insight into what will be well received & supported
by Queensland Health Service, service providers and these other non government organisations (NGOs). So TransCare Australia
is committed to to build better relationships & understanding between these people and the trans community. So our members
of our organisation already includes a number of these people, including the director from my local gender clinic.

Because TransCare Australia was established in Queensland and has setup a very good model. So now we have
TransCare groups springing up in almost every single state of Australia to tackle issues at state level. Collectively
we will work on federal government issues. All state will adopt the same Charter from the mother group. Here is
the new Group Charter that I have drafted up that we are soon to adopt.


TransCare - Australia (QLD) has the sole objective of improving the heath and well being of
transsexual, transgender & gender diverse people in Queensland and Australia. Our aims are:



to build a national media campaign that will promote more education and awareness to the general public about health & well being of trans people.
To identify key issues that affect the health & well being of the trans community, such as anxiety & depression, self harm, genital mutilation & suicide, and to explore the best options to address these health issues.
to collect & share information about trans health & well being to support our sister groups in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia & the Northern Territory. Our aim to establish groups in all states of Australia.
to build better relationships & understanding between the trans community & service providers such as doctors, psychologists, psychiatrist & other NGOs.
to keep lobbying federal and state governments for reforms to healthcare systems that can satisfactorily address important health issues as per the WPATH Standards of Care & the Human Rights Commission recommendations
to appoint the most effective spokespeople to act for the trans community to act on our behalf with both state and federal government officials & the media.


TransCare - Australia (QLD) is a non profit organisation that is open to membership to all transsexual, transgender & gender diverse people, doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists, NGOs & scholars in Queensland who are interested in expanding their knowledge to best serve the Health & Well Being of the Trans Community.

TransCare - Australia (QLD) is the mother group for our interstate sister groups who administrated by well known & supported trans members who have been appointed to their roles because of their commitment to the health & well being of the trans community.

TransCare Australia group administrators have been appointed by founding members who organised and were present at the first general meeting held in Brisbane on the 20th of April 2012, or directly involved with the foundation of this group before the meeting but unable to attend.

The administrators of the TransCare Australia Group are:



Melody Moore, Founder (QLD)
Shelley Argent OAM, Spokesperson (QLD)
Kristine Johnson (QLD)
Shaunna Wilson (NSW)
Melissa Star (VIC)
Leece Johnson (WA, NT, SA)
Robyn Edwards (WA)
Lesley-Ann Mason (SA)

The feedback I have had so far has been motivating and the Director of my local Gender clinic told me that what I have
started is 'Absolutely amazing". So that might explain why I have been so busy and hardly been on this forum lately :)

[Melody Moore]

MEDIA RELEASE for GENDER UNBOUND - Culture LGBT Magazine

TRANSSEXUAL, TRANSGENDER & GENDER DIVERSE COMMUNITY HEALTH IN AUSTRALIA AT RISK. By Melody Moore

On the 3rd of April 2012 the La Trobe University released its Private Lives 2, the second national survey of the health and wellbeing of GLBT Australians. On the very same day, a transsexual woman in Brisbane was driven by desperation to attempt her own DIY Sex Reassignment Surgery. Graphic images circulated by email shocked the global trans community. The Private Lives 2 survey from La Trobe proved that trans people are the most affected by anxiety and depression in all of the LGBTIQ communities. Now the trans community is demanding to know why these issues have being ignored for so long when being trans is not a choice.

Most trans people know the non-psychotic mental health issues they have to deal with, but only a few are lucky enough to escape these issues. Usually this means they have good support and the means to afford proper medical treatments and surgery. The federal government has ignored recommendations from WPATH, the Human Rights Commission, medical authorities, activist and supporting organisations. So I was personally motivated from my own experience with gender related anxiety and depression to launch a national media campaign to lobby both state and federal governments for reforms to health care systems to address these issues.

Many people believe that sex reassignment surgery and other cosmetic procedures, including facial feminization surgery, facial hair removal, hair replacement and vocal feminization therapy are all purely cosmetic. But the truth is these treatments can dramatically improve the health and well being of trans persons and how they feel about themselves when current mental health treatments and anti-depressant medications fail. These surgical procedures and treatments can help a trans person to readjust and blend into society with less discrimination, vilification and abuse and improve their chances of finding employment. One trans woman reported to me recently that she applies for up to 80 jobs per fortnight and has been rejected by every single employer.

The burden on the Australia taxpayer is astronomical because there are many trans people who cannot find work or are on a disability pension because their health and well being is ignored and mismanaged by federal and state governments.

On the 20th of April I held an urgent meeting and setup an action group with members of the trans community and supporting NGOs. Shelley Argent OAM has been appointed the official spokesperson for the group and has organised a questionnaire to gather data for her report which she will take to Canberra in May.

If you want more info, please email Melody at: [email protected].