Matthew Morris is the Chair of the South Australian Rainbow Advocacy Alliance, a community led organisation that advocates for the rights and wellbeing of the LGBTIQ+ community in South Australia.
Matthew has worked and volunteered in various frontline roles in the community service sector in South Australia over the last decade, providing support in areas such as homelessness, domestic violence, and crisis intervention. Since 2015 he has been a Community Worker at one of South Australia's main LGBTIQ+ support services.
Over the years, Matthew has explored his interest in social justice through advocacy positions relating to the communities he supports. In late 2017, witnessing the impact that the Marriage Equality postal survey was having on the mental health of LGBTIQ+ people, Matthew applied to join the Board of the South Australian Rainbow Advocacy Alliance (SARAA). He became the Chair of SARAA in early 2019. Matthew also served as the Co-facilitator of the Family and Domestic Violence Advocacy Network in 2018. Through his involvement with FADVAN, Matthew was invited to participate in consultations relating to the development of state and national level domestic violence strategies, where he advocated for additional investment in the primary prevention of domestic violence and the need for systemic reforms to support LGBTIQ+ people who experience violence.
During his time with SARAA, Matthew has advocated on a range of issues through various means. This has included hosting grassroots community meetings relating to LGBTIQ+ rights in general and in response to the Morrison government's proposed Religious Discrimination Bill, as well as writing numerous submissions to government inquiries, most notably regarding the Religious Discrimination Bill. Matthew has also prepared submissions calling for LGBTIQ+ inclusion in government strategies in areas such as housing & homelessness, domestic violence, health and education, and has participated in various meetings and roundtables to pursue this inclusion and to inform policy makers.
In April 2019, Matthew assisted in planning the South Australian government's LGBTIQ+ Ministerial Roundtable, and subsequently co-authored a report for the Department of Human Services that made dozens of recommendations for legal and policy reforms in South Australia to improve the lives of LGBTIQ+ South Australians. This led to SARAA being asked to establish a LGBTIQ+ Community Advisory Group, which is due to commence in late 2020. This group will work alongside government departments to pursue the implementation of the roundtable's recommendations, together with making new recommendations to address emerging issues for the LGBTIQ+ community.
Matthew also sits on the Community Advisory Council for the Adelaide PHN and the Premier's Council on Suicide Prevention. In both of these groups he advocates not just for the LGBTIQ+ community but for all vulnerable members of society, with a particular interest in improving the mental health and emotional wellbeing of all South Australians.
Pronouns: He/him Chair South Australian Rainbow Advocacy Alliance
Comments