Police station a safe haven for LGBTQIA+ community

Assistant Commissioner Gelina Talbot, Corporate for Sponsor for Sexuality, Gender Diversity and Intersex was in Bathurst on Wednesday to officially launch the station as a "Welcome Here" location, where LGBTQIA+ people can come and know they will be safe.

Assistant Commissioner Talbot said part of her role is working with external stakeholders and internally with commanders and police across the whole of NSW.

She said back in the 1990s, a group known as ACON, came up with a safety program, focused around making sure people from LGBTQIA+ backgrounds knew they could go into any business or any location if they didn't feel safe and it would be a safe place for them.

Assistant Commissioner Talbot said now ACON have moved into a program called Welcome Here (with similar sentiments), where businesses place a rainbow sticker on their window identifying to LGBTQIA+ people they are safe and welcome inside the premises.

"The NSW Police Force made a commitment to ACON to try and put one of these (stickers) on every police station across NSW so that anyone from the LGBTQIA+ community who has been a victim of a crime or who doesn't feel safe know they can come into any police station and they will be looked after," she said.

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Assistant Commissioner Talbot said she has been touring regional areas for the past 12 months, including various locations across western NSW, Southern NSW, Northern NSW involving every station in the program.

While she is on site, she also speaks to each commander running through the importance of and history with the LGBTQIA+ communities.

"We haven't always had a great history or one which we are proud of, so it is about making sure we continue to build trust with the community," she said.

"This (the rainbow sticker) is a visual representation, but also so police here understand if anyone does come in there is an expectation that they will treat everyone with respect, dignity and care."

Supt Bob Noble welcomed the program to his district.

"It's good, particularly because certain members of these communities can be quite marginalised, particularly transgender people.

"They are at times as a result of that are most in need of our protection, and if they don't feel they are going to get a fair hearing or be taken seriously or even respected they won't come in and avail themselves of that support they may need probably as much if not more than anyone."

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