PROJECTS WITHIN alma |
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Medicine can be hard, but you’re not alone. Mentor and Mentee opportunities are available to all ALMA members. At its institution, the founding members of ALMA decided that it was important to provide mentoring opportunities within the ALMA community. ALMA’s mentoring program aims to support all ALMAs and facilitate their development, by linking them with another ALMA doctor. The program aims to provide an opportunity for mentors and mentees to develop insight and understanding, to form networks, and for mentees to benefit from the wisdom and experience of other women in medicine. |
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DocLIST exists to help improve the healthcare experience for lesbian, bisexual, queer, and same sex attracted women in Australia. DocLIST was created as a project of ALMA as a way of connecting lesbian and bisexual patients with caring, compassionate and competent healthcare professionals to reduce the barriers faced by women accessing healthcare services as a consequence of sexual orientation. DocLIST is a list of health care professionals who have been recognised and recommended by women within the LGBTQIA+ community as capable of providing a safe and comfortable healthcare experience. On the DocLIST website you will also find ‘DocLIST Links’ a searchable table of over 600 organisations, groups and resources which may be of interest to lesbian, bisexual and queer women in Australia.
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The IIHR Subcommittee is made up of a dedicated group of ALMAs who advocate for the health and wellbeing of LGBTQIA+ people through ALMA's platform.
After a seven year long process, on 7th August 2013, the IIHR subcommittee received formal notification from the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations that ALMA (formerly known as the Australian Lesbian Medical Association) had been awarded special consultative status.
This allows ALMA members to have a voice at UN ECOSOC meetings and participate in come of the processes at the United Nations.
ALMA’s focus has been on LGBTIQA+ Human Rights including Intersex issues, LGBTIQA+ Refugee issues, and Climate and Environmental issues.
ALMA currently has position statements on LGBTIQA+ Refugees, Religious Discrimination Bill, LGBTQI+ inclusion in the Australian Census amongst others. Please refer to our Advocacy page for further information on their activities.
ALMA is urgently concerned about the Climate and Ecological Emergency and has a Climate Action Group. The science is clear. The Climate and Ecological Crisis is the biggest public health emergency facing humankind today.
ALMA calls on the Australian and New Zealand Governments for a bipartisan approach to address the Crisis. Environmental degradation is accelerating changes to our world faster than previously predicted. Human health on a global scale is already being impacted by environmental destruction via direct effects from increased heatwaves, floods, sea level rises resulting in loss of low-lying islands, severe storms, bushfires and cyclones. The Climate and Ecological Emergency will continue to worsen the health of all humans indirectly, via increased air pollution contributing to allergic disease such as asthma, increased infectious diseases such as malaria and gastroenteritis, reduced food and water availability resulting in under-nutrition, as well as poorer mental health from the effects of trauma related to extreme weather events. Extreme weather events and sea level rises will also result in large numbers of climate refugees, who will be displaced from their homes and result in significant impacts on their physical and mental health.
The Australian and New Zealand Governments must act now to minimise effects on human health, by keeping all remaining fossil fuels in the ground and urgently transitioning to renewable energy, as well as protecting the world’s forests and marine environments and reducing air pollution from transport, agricultural and other industries. By reducing greenhouse gas emissions and halting biodiversity loss, all humans will experience direct beneficial effects on human health by improving access to food, water, clean air and improved mental health.
What started as a love of queer literature, and an even bigger love of chatting about it, has blossomed into the ALMA Book Club. It is a wholesome, relatively unstructured space where every ALMA is welcome. Since late 2023 we have met every 4-6 weeks over Zoom to discuss and deconstruct books across a variety of genres, voted in by the group. Book Club had their first face to face meeting at the Adelaide conference in 2024.
ALMA is committed to improving the lives of our members and all women in the LGBTQIA+ community.
In 2004 the ALMA Research Fund was established, and is maintained through member donations, as a way of helping fund projects, education and research endeavors to aid our members and wider national, and international communities by;
- Improving access to health care and eliminating barriers to health
- Tackling mental health issues which affect the LGBTQI+ community.
- Fostering community and understanding for the LGBTQI+ community.
- Acknowledging and working to reduce domestic violence.
The aim of the grant is to support research projects that will improve the health and wellbeing of Australian lesbian and same-sex attracted women and which can be completed within two years.
RESEARCH GRANTS ARE CURRENTLY ON HOLD
PLEASE WATCH THIS SPACE
PREVIOUS RECIPIENT RESEARCH WORK
LESBIAN ZEST: HOW TO THRIVE AND FLOURISH Ea Mulligan and Mary Heath Twenty seven lesbians told us about where they get support and what helps them to flourish. They also offered advice and tips on how to thrive as a lesbian. Full article available on the right as pdf: |
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THRIVING AS A BISEXUAL OR QUEER WOMAN Mary Heath and Ea Mulligan This document brings together stories from 20 Australian women who identify as bi or queer and who are leading thriving lives. They agreed to be interviewed and to share their wisdom about how to thrive as a queer or bi woman: sharing some of the ways they find fulfillment, support, joy and sustenance for themselves. Full article available on the right as pdf: |
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ALMA acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community.
We pay respects to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today
We acknowledge Māori as tangata whenua in Aotearoa New Zealand
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