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Welcome to the Rainbow Hub — everything you need to know about the
COTA SA programs, services, events and activities focussed for the
lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) community aged
50+.
The Rainbow Hub is for everyone in the LGBTI community, particularly if you are experiencing difficulty accessing the services you need through existing channels, have limited or no access to technology, accessibility requirements such as vision impairment or living with or supporting someone living with dementia.
Through the Rainbow Hub you can seek help to contact and navigate My Aged Care, access important information, fact sheets and resources, and participate in a range of community events, including monthly lunches and regular information sessions.
Follow us or join the conversations on our dedicated Facebook page — it's for LGBTI elders, by LGBTI elders.

Upcoming Events
Programs and services
The Rainbow Hub includes a number of programs and services focused for the LGBTI community aged 50+

- Rainbow Horizons
Inclusive end-of-life care and planning - Rainbow Dog
Exploring the impact of unexpected changes on our emotional wellbeing - Sign up for Rainbow Hub E-news
Stay up-to-date with news and events for LGBTI elders - COTA Visitors
Connecting volunteer visitors with LGBTI elders who are receiving or waiting for aged care. - Let's Talk Aged Care - LGBTI Rainbow Hub
Providing tailored information to help you navigate My Aged Care - Rainbow Memories Matter
Challenging invisibility and celebrating our histories - Silver Rainbow Training
LGBTI Aged Care Awareness Training & Consulting
Silver Rainbow
LGBTI Aged Care Awareness Training; available to aged care providers and delivered by qualified trainers with lived LGBTI experience.
Rainbow Dog
Our Fay Fuller Foundation Spark Grant project, Rainbow Dog, will
explore the impact of unexpected changes on our emotional wellbeing.
Through this project we will gather stories from LGBTI+ elders about the impact of these events on them and/or their friends, and explore what happened as a result, what helped them, what got in the way and what could have helped them get through.
Watch this space for more information!

Rainbow Memories Matter
In March 2021, we were pleased to hold our Rainbow Memories Workshop: Challenging invisibility and celebrating our histories. While this initial event has now passed, the aim remains important. See the tips handout below for information about why it matters to preserve these memories and ideas of how you can.
Rainbow Horizons
Inclusive end of life care and planning
COTA SA places great importance on creating an inclusive society that moves beyond ageism, and enables the participation of older South Australians as co-producers of change, including end of life planning.
The Rainbow Horizons project was an important initiative designed to create greater cross-generational support in relation to end of life planning, care and dying for LGBTI+ people.
The project included a number of key contributors, download the list here.
The two year project was supported by Office for Ageing Well, SA Health with a specific focus on:
- Facilitating conversations in LGBTI+ communities across generations
- Building an intergenerational compassionate community model that can be adapted, and
- Engaging with service providers.

Support this work

You can support this work in a number of ways:
- Download and share the project report: Rainbow Horizons: Don’t leave me this way - fostering intergenerational compassionate communities to support LGBTI+ people’s end of life
- Subscribe to the Rainbow Hub e-news for updates building on this project
- Email rainbowhub@cotasa.org.au for more information
- Download the project flyer and help spread the word
Pictured left: Some Rainbow Horizons Trial Group members with Jackie Wurm at the debrief session
Rainbow Horizons Useful Resources
- Rainbow Horizons LGBTI+ Community Forum - Don’t leave me this way – honouring our lives in community, February 2022
The Rainbow Horizons project complements work being undertaken by organisations, including interstate and overseas.
- An online toolkit 'Taking Control: LGBTQ+ Toolkit for Palliative Care and End of Life Decisions' was produced by ACON’s ageing initiative, the LOVE Project (Living Older Visibly and Engaged). More here: ACON - Taking Control
- LGBTIQ+ Health Australia’s project to build the capacity of the palliative care sector to provide inclusive services to LGBTIQ+ people accessing palliative and end-of-life care, includes a Scoping Review. More here: Palliative Care - LGBTIQ+ Health Australia
- The LGBTIQ+ Health Australia Genders, Bodies and Relationships Passport is a tool to support clear communication about sensitive information between intersex, trans and gender diverse people, and health and social care services.
- Hospice UK. ‘I just want to be me’. Trans and Gender Diverse Communities. Access to and Experiences of Palliative and End of Life Care. London: Hospice UK; 2023.
- Palliative Care Victoria and the Australian GLBTIQ Multicultural Council research paper: My Choice of Care: Palliative Care From Multicultural and Multifaith LGBTIQA+ Perspectives and Experiences, 2023
- Palliative Care ACT’s LGBTQIA+ Inclusive Palliative Care toolkit provides readers with some questions to ask everyone, so we can all be more inclusive, no matter who we are speaking with
- A virtual exhibition bringing together LGBTQ+ multicultural people to reflect on their experiences and imaginations of ageing in Australia featuring participant photographs and words from Rainbow Horizons Trial Model Group member Jin Chen’s PhD project: Visit Imagining Futures Website
- Voluntary assisted dying is now available to eligible South Australians, read COTA SA's update including links to useful information and resources
Rainbow Hub Advisory Group
The Advisory Group works closely with COTA SA to guide the Rainbow Hub programs and lead advocacy priorities and engagement. The Advisory Group also liaises with other key LGBTI stakeholders such as the South Australian Rainbow Advocacy Alliance (SARAA).
Watch a recent video message from the Advisory Group by clicking play in the image to the left. Running time 20 seconds.
Submissions
Below are details of some of the COTA SA submissions that the Rainbow Hub has contributed to.
Feedback on the Spent Convictions Act 2009 — Amendment Bill
Feedback on the Spent Convictions Act 2009 — Amendment Bill
Letter from COTA SA and the Rainbow Hub Advisory Group confirming that it is our position that all convictions for homosexuality be automatically expunged from the record.
SA Gov Website Spent Convictions information
Removing homosexual convictions — South Australian Government factsheet
Removing homosexual convictions — South Australian Government factsheet — Easy read version
The South Australian Joint Statement against the Religious Discrimination Bill
The South Australian Joint Statement against the Religious Discrimination Bill
COTA SA was one of 14 signatories to the joint statement. Jane Mussared, COTA SA Chief Executive said. "The Religious Discrimination bill has worried a generation of people who have vivid memories of the discrimination, hurts, abuse and lack of safety that has been the experience for most of their lives. They worry that the bill, as law, would legitimise that all over again".
Read the Join Statement against the Religious Discrimination Bill
COTA Australia's Submission to the Religious Discrimination Bill's 2nd Consultation Draft
COTA Australia's Submission to the Religious Discrimination Bill's 2nd Consultation Draft
This was developed with our input including a letter from COTA SA's LGBTI Advisory Group
Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety — National LGBTI Health Alliance Submission
Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety — National LGBTI Health Alliance Submission
In September 2019, the National LGBTI Health Alliance came to Adelaide to speak with LGBTI older people and elders, and their carers. This consultation, along with others in Melbourne, Canberra, Tasmania and on the Sunshine Coast informed the submission.
The LGBTIQ People Ageing Well Project
The LGBTIQ People Ageing Well Project
The LGBTIQ People Ageing Well Project has concluded, with the final report sent to government and key stakeholders in August 2018.
The main aim of the project was to engage with older people from South Australia’s LGBTIQ communities to find out what matters most to them as they age to better inform policy and create a groundswell for change to the policies that impact on the lives of older LGBTIQ people.
The project also celebrated the lives and contributions of older LGBTIQ people. Their stories and lived experiences have the power to promote a greater understanding of a unique set of issues, but also the power to create changes that will support and enhance the lives of South Australia’s older LGBTIQ population.
Through the project COTA SA and co-authors the SA Rainbow Advocacy Alliance (SARAA) wanted to make sure there were opportunities for people to celebrate their achievements and to come together in a forum where their many and varied contributions could be appropriately acknowledged.
This report makes a number of recommendations that can and will make a significant difference to the lives of older LGBTIQ South Australians, and must be addressed by all levels of government and the ageing and aged care sector.
COTA SA will now work alongside SARAA to push for actions in line with the recommendations detailed in the final report.
As the peak body for older South Australians, COTA SA is committed to ensuring all older South Australians have an opportunity to be heard about what matters to them as they age. For more information about COTA SA's continued work on issues for older LGBTIQ people, please contact us.
Rainbow Hub e-news
Stay up-to-date with news and events for LGBTI elders by subscribing to the Rainbow Hub e-news. Simply complete and submit the form below.
Previous editions
In the media
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ONECOTA — Ageing Fabulously: A report from the Sydney World Pride Human Rights Conference, Winter 2023 edition
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ONECOTA — Leadership Change for Rainbow Hub Advisory Group, Winter 2023 edition
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Rainbow Hub brings together regional LGBTI+ communities, May 2022
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ONECOTA — My COVID Experience by Mieke van Dijk, Winter 2021 edition
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COAST FM — Rainbow Hub Project Officer Jackie Wurm, 14 May 2021
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Adelaide East Herald — Support for Ageing LGBTI+ People, 48 April 2021
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ONECOTA — Rainbow Hub Advisory Group new member, Autumn 2021 edition
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ONECOTA — Jenny Scott's story, Summer 2020-21 edition
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ONECOTA — A regular luncher shares her experiences, Winter 2020 edition
More information
For more information about COTA SA’s Rainbow Hub, please contact:
Jackie Wurm
Project Officer — Rainbow Hub
08 8232 0422
cotasa@cotasa.org.au