Connecting the
LGBTIQA+ community

Our free resources are here to support you

  • Rainbow Door logo

    Rainbow Door

    Free Victorian LGBTIQA+ Service

    10AM - 5PM, 7 days per week
    (closed some public holidays)

    📞 Call us: 1800 729 367

    📲 Send SMS: 0480 017 246

    ✉️ Email Us: support@rainbowdoor.org.au

    Rainbow Door is a free specialist LGBTIQA+ helpline run by Switchboard – providing information, support, and referral to all LGBTIQA+ Victorians, their friends and family.

  • QLife

    Free Australia wide LGBTIQ+ service

    3PM - 12AM, 7 days per week

    📞 Call us: 1800 184 527

    💻 Webchat online: via QLife

    QLife provides anonymous and free LGBTIQ+ peer support and referral for people in Australia wanting to talk about sexuality, identity, gender, bodies, feelings or relationships. Switchboard is the proud Victorian partner of QLife.

  • CHARLEE

    Free LGBTIQA+ Digital Resource

    CHARLEE is a suicide prevention hub made by LGBTIQA+ people who have thought about suicide, lived through suicide attempts, supported others in distress and live with the pain of loss through suicide. This online resource created by Switchboard, provides information on supporting yourself, supporting someone you love, or support with bereavement.

    How do I know when I’m not ok?

    Noticing signs of distress

Are you seeking help outside our operating hours or from outside of Australia?

Two people with their arms around each other wearing the rainbow and trans flags like capes.

We Are Switchboard

Switchboard provides peer-driven support services for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and gender diverse, intersex, queer and asexual (LGBTIQA+) people, their families, allies and communities.

We have a range of different programs offering peer-to-peer support in areas including gender and sexuality, diverse relationships, suicide prevention, family violence support, anti-racism advocacy, and social inclusion for older LGBTI+ community.

Switchboard is on the Melbourne tram tracks!

We are so excited to be part of the Yarra Trams Community Partnership Program from April 9 to July 23.

 
graphic of older person

Connection for the older LGBTI+ community

Switchboard’s Out and About program is a free service for older lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or intersex (LGBTI+) people. We aim to reduce social isolation and loneliness through creating peer friendships and community connections. Our service can be used by LGBTI+ seniors anywhere in Victoria.

Progress flag

Pride in Ageing

Co-imagining our futures as we age 

Are you an LGBTI+ person over 60 living in rural or regional Victoria (or 50+ for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and people living with HIV)? 

We invite you to join us in imagining a safe and inclusive future for yourself and other older LGBTI+ people where you live.  

Pride in Ageing will be holding co-design sessions across Victoria throughout 2024.

Rainbow Door
Connecting the Victorian LGBTIQA+ community to the services we need

 

QTIBPoC Skill Building Workshops

Switchboard’s QTIBPoC (Queer,Trans, Intersex and Bla(c)k, and/or People of Colour) Program works to promote resilience, positive mental health and wellbeing through a series of skill building workshops for our QTIBPOC and CALD community.

To find out more, head to our Anti-Racism program page

An illustration of two hands reaching out holding a cup of tea. The steam creates an image of window with a rainbow and blue sky

LGBTIQA+ Suicide Prevention Program

We run suicide prevention programs for LGBTIQA+ people and loved ones across prevention, intervention and postvention. We emphasise building community resilience through peer-led and lived experience activities.

  • Suicide Prevention - Postvention plan

    Created by Switchboard, this resource offers ways in which locally developed support can be delivered to meet the expressed needs of LGBTIQA+ people affected by a suicide death of a LGBTIQA+ person.

  • Rainbow Families logo

    Rainbow Families

    Rainbow Families Switchboard connects and supports LGBTIQA+ parents, coparents, carers and their families through social events, online support groups and advocacy.

  • Supporting People of Faith

    Our peer support services are available to LGBTIQA+ people from all communities, ethnicities, cultural backgrounds and faiths.

QLife is here for you

QLife provides anonymous and free LGBTIQA+ peer support and referral for people in Australia wanting to talk about sexuality, identity, gender, bodies, feelings or relationships.

Switchboard is the proud Victorian partner of QLife.

Find out more

  • LGBTIQA+ Training

    Switchboard offers training that is applicable for the LGBTIQA+ community sector, workplaces and the broader community.

  • Make a donation

    Your donations keep us going! You can make a one off donation, an ongoing donation, or even discuss making a bequest to Switchboard.

  • Volunteer with Switchboard

    Find out more about how you can be a volunteer for our Out and About program or become a peer to peer counsellor for QLife.