Our United Future: Swan Hill Community Town Hall with the Commissioner for LGBTIQA+ Communities

I invite you to join me, as the Victorian Commissioner for LGBTIQA+ Communities, for a cuppa and conversation about being LGBTIQA+, but most importantly, the kind of communities we all want to build, where everyone can thrive. Together, we’ll explore how we strengthen community safety, support equitable health and wellbeing for people of all genders, and better support families and young people.

As I travel around Victoria, I’m being joined by local leaders and others working to strengthen communities. For this event, I’m pleased to be joined by:

- Kellie Dunn, CEO, Women's Health Loddon Mallee
- Damien Stevens-Todd, Program Manager at Thorne Harbour Country
- Carolyn Gillespie, CEO of Women’s Health in the North

We will also share information about support services, acknowledging that times are tough for many people and families.

These community conversations are open to everyone, whether you’re LGBTIQA+ or not. Strong communities are built by all of us. I want to allow space for different people, with different opinions and values, to come together with kindness and ask genuine questions about the key issues that matter to them. Where people won’t be shut down for sharing their concerns. 

Some catering will be provided. The event is recommended for people 18yo+.

My hope as Commissioner is that everyone leaves with a deeper understanding of each other and a renewed commitment to building a stronger future together.

Accessibility

- The venue is wheelchair accessible

- There will be a short break during the meeting.

Please contact us if you have require additional supports, such as an Auslan interpreter or closed captions.

Bios

Joe Ball is the Victorian Commissioner for LGBTIQA+ Communities, appointed in 2024. He is one of Australia’s most senior openly transgender public servants and a national voice on equality, mental health, and community safety. Joe has spent more than a decade working across social services, including family violence, housing and homelessness, disability, and suicide prevention. 

As Commissioner, Joe advises government on policies that affect LGBTIQA+ communities and works across sectors to advance safety, dignity, and inclusion. His work focuses on strengthening system level and community led responses to hate, discrimination and violence, and ensuring that systems—from healthcare to justice—are inclusive and effective for diverse communities.

Joe is known for his ability to bring people together across difference in complex and contested conversations. 

He lives in Melbourne with his partner and their daughter.

Kellie Dunn is CEO of Women’s Health Loddon Mallee and a social-sector leader with more than 27 years’ experience across health promotion, housing and homelessness, mental health, family violence, addiction, community development and psychology in sport.

A self-described “warrior woman,” Kellie is passionate about creating equity, hope and positive change through curiosity, connection and kindness. Her career has included senior roles with Lifeline Australia, the Australasian Housing Institute, CAFS, UnitingCare, KIDS Foundation.

Damien Stevens-Todd (he/they) is the LGBTIQ+ Specialist Mental Health Manager and Program Manager at Thorne Harbour Country based in Bendigo, Victoria, working across the Loddon Mallee region with a focus on Blood Borne Virus and STI prevention, testing and treatment for priority populations, and for the past 25 years has worked to improve the lives and mental health and wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ people living “in the sticks”. Damien lives with his husband, Cris, and their 8 year old daughter, Fletcher, in Shepparton, Victoria. Damien is involved in a range of other projects, leadership programs and organisations such as the Victorian Pride Centre’s Community Reference Group, Uniting Network Australia for LGBTIQ+ people, their families, friends and supporters within the Uniting Church in Australia, and OUTintheOPEN Festival and Goulburn Valley Pride in Shepparton.

Carolyn Gillespie (she/her) is Chief Executive Officer of Women's Health In the North (WHIN) and a recognised leader in gender equity, health justice and community advocacy. With more than 15 years' senior executive experience across the public health, public service and LGBTIQA+ sectors, Carolyn is known for her work advancing gender equity, preventing family and sexual violence, and improving the health, safety and wellbeing of women and LGBTIQA+ communities. Carolyn brings a clinical and advocacy background to her work and believes that strong communities, lived experience and collective action are at the heart of meaningful social change.