- National suicide data
- Australian Bureau of Statistics
- National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing, 2020-22
Mental health findings for LGBTQ+ Australians
Released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Tuesday, 27 February 2024
Many LGBTQ+ people live happy and healthy lives. Protective factors, such as community connectedness and positive relationships, create a sense of belonging and affirm LGBTQ+ identities. However, people in LGBTQ+ communities may experience stigma, discrimination, violence and exclusion, which may lead to poorer social, emotional and psychological wellbeing.
The National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing was last conducted in 2020-22. Australian households were randomly selected to participate in the study, with one person aged 16–85 years being randomly selected from each household to complete the questionnaire. Random selection in this study ensures that every individual has an equal chance of being included, leading to a more representative sample and more reliable data.
The survey included demographic questions about sexual orientation, gender, and sex recorded at birth. Participants' transgender (trans) or cisgender (cis) status was calculated by analysing responses about their gender and sex recorded at birth. It was not possible to produce reliable data on the mental health of people born with variations of sex characteristics (sometimes referred to as intersex).
The National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing 2020-22 provides information about the:
Data by sexual orientation
Lesbian, gay, bisexual or people who used a different term (LGB+) were more likely to experience a mental disorder than heterosexual people. Three in four LGB+ people (74.5%) had experienced a mental disorder in their lifetime (compared with 41.7% of heterosexual people), including:
- 63.5% of gay or lesbian people
- 80.1% of bisexual people
- 93.1% of people who used a different term to describe their sexual orientation.
Almost three in five LGB+ people (58.7%) had experienced a mental disorder in the past 12 months, compared to one in five heterosexual people (19.9%), including:
- 42.8% of gay or lesbian people
- 64.4% of bisexual people
- 95.6% of people who used a different term.
Almost half of all LGB+ people (43.9%) had high or very high levels of psychological distress, compared with over one in seven heterosexual people (15.4%), including:
- 28.6% of gay and lesbian people
- 51.5% of bisexual people.
Almost half of all LGB+ people (47.8%) had seriously thought about suicide in their lifetime, compared with just over one in seven heterosexual people (15.3%), including:
- 35.6% of gay or lesbian people
- 54.1% of bisexual people
- 70.2% of people who used a different term.
Over two in five LGB+ people (41.2%) had self-harmed in their lifetime, compared with less than one in 10 heterosexual people (7.4%), including:
- 27.1% of gay or lesbian people
- 47.5% of bisexual people
- 73.6% of people who used a different term.
The proportion of LGB+ people who saw a health professional for their mental health was higher compared to heterosexual people.
- Almost half of LGB+ people (46.8%) saw a health professional for their mental health in the last 12 months, compared to 16.0% of heterosexual people.
Data by gender
The prevalence of experiencing a mental disorder in their lifetime was similar for trans and gender diverse (trans) people (43.9%) and cisgender (cis) people (42.9%). However:
- Almost one in three (33.1%) trans people experienced a mental disorder in the past 12 months, compared to one in five (21.3%) cis people.
- Seven in ten (70.6%) trans people aged 16-34 years had experienced a mental disorder in their lifetime, compared to almost one in two (48.1%) cis people of the same age.
Across other measures, trans and gender diverse people generally had higher rates than the rest of the Australian population.
- More than one in four trans people (26.3%) had high or very high levels of psychological distress, compared to one in six cis people (16.5%).
- Almost half of trans people aged 16–34 years (46.6%) had high or very high levels of psychological distress. This was more than double the rate of cis people of the same age (20.5%).
- More than one in four trans people aged 16–85 years (28.5%) had seriously thought about suicide in their lifetime, compared with one in six cis people (16.5%).
- Close to one in five trans people (19.6%) had self-harmed in their lifetime, compared with one in twelve cis people (8.5%).
- Almost two in five trans people aged 16–34 years (39.5%) had self-harmed in their lifetime, more than double the rate of cis people of the same age (16.8%).
- More than one in four trans people (28.7%) saw a health professional for their mental health in the last 12 months, compared with one in six cis people (17.2%).
The study also allowed for comparisons between binary (i.e. men and women) and non-binary genders.
- Over four in five non-binary people (85.2%) experienced a mental disorder in their lifetime, compared with two in five men (42.1%) and women (43.4%).
- Four in five (80.4%) non-binary people experienced a mental disorder in the past 12 months, compared to around one in five men (18.3%) and one in four women (24.3%).
- Four in five non-binary people (79.6%) had seriously thought about suicide in their lifetime, compared to 14.9% of men and 18.0% of women.
- Almost three in four non-binary people (72.8%) had self-harmed in their lifetime, compared with 6.7% of men and 10.3% of women.
- The proportion of non-binary people who saw a health professional for their mental health in the last 12 months (70.4%) was more than three times the proportion for men (12.9%) and women (21.3%).
For support and advice on safely communicating about these findings please refer to the Mindframe guidelines.
