Abstract:

Transgender and Gender Diverse young people experience disproportionate exposure to bullying, harassment, and social marginalisation in institutional and community settings (Strauss et al, 2017), and 66% report inadequate family support (Strauss et al, 2017). These compounding experiences of discrimination can influence short- and long-term wellbeing outcomes. Conversely, when TGD young people experience an accepting family environment, they are found to have a significant likelihood of perceiving themselves as happy adults (Ryan, 2009).

Workers from across family and community service organisations are increasingly asking how they can deliver holistic, culturally responsive, gender-affirming, and inclusive support to parents, caregivers, and families of TGD young people. This symposium explores how practitioners can meet families where they are at, while simultaneously promoting safety, acceptance, and positive outcomes for TGD youth.

This symposium has three primary objectives:

• To synthesise current research and practice knowledge relevant to family-based supports for TGD young people, emphasising interdisciplinary perspectives from counselling, mental health, housing, and reunification practice.
• To identify core competencies and practical strategies that enable practitioners to facilitate family acceptance processes in culturally appropriate and identity-affirming ways.
• To create a space for exchange between services, researchers, and practitioners, where evidence can be translated into actionable frameworks that can be integrated into routine service delivery.

Over a 90-minute session, presenters from Drummond Street’s Centre for Family Research and Evaluation (CFRE) and Queerspace will integrate research findings, practice-based evidence, and lived-experience narratives to map pathways for effective TGD family engagement.

Through case scenarios, practice frameworks, facilitated discussion and engagement techniques, emphasis will be placed on:

• Assessment approaches that account for family readiness, cultural background, and intersectional identities.
• Communication strategies that reduce defensiveness and foster reflective processing among caregivers.
• Evidence-informed interventions that build parental capacity for gender-affirming support, while attending to safety and risk mitigation.

Cross-sector coordination practices that align housing, mental health, and social support responses to the needs of TGD youth and their families. Given the demonstrable impact of positive familial responses on the wellbeing of TGD young people, there is a responsibility for services and practitioners to develop the competencies necessary to guide parents, caregivers, and families effectively.

This symposium contributes to that obligation by bridging research, practice, and lived experience to advance approaches that promote acceptance, reduce harm, and enhance long-term wellbeing for TGD youth and their families.