Working It Out (WIO) is striving for a Tasmania that affirms and celebrates people of diverse sexualities, genders and sex characteristics so they are safe, connected, valued and able to thrive.
WIO creates positive change through lived experience, education, support, advocacy and partnerships that improve the wellbeing, inclusion and rights of LGBTIQA+ Tasmanians.
With offices in Hobart, Burnie and Launceston, WIO provides individual support through a peer navigation service, diversity and inclusion support in public schools – for both staff and students (Valuing Diversity Project), support for people with innate variations of sex characteristics (Better Lives Project), a suite of comprehensive LGBTIQA+ inclusion professional learning products as well as policy and advocacy to government, not-for-profit and private sectors.
WIO emerged out of the campaign to decriminalise male homosexuality in Tasmanian in the 1990’s. The widespread community backlash against the decriminalisation led to a spike in suicides amongst young, gay Tasmanians. A number of concerned community members and allies formed a group to address this growing problem, eventually commissioning a report. This report, Working It Out: A needs-based analysis of sexual minority youth in North-West Tasmania, called for the provision of specialist services to support Tasmania’s LGBTIQ+ people and the organisation was thus born.