The belief that education saves lives is at the heart of Qtopia Sydney’s mission.
And that’s why comments recently shared by an educator in the regional town of Trundle, New South Wales, have meant so much to the organisation’s CEO Greg Fisher.
“I can’t lose one more child to suicide because of shame relating to their identity, and I am proud to endorse Qtopia Sydney’s programs, knowing first-hand the value it will have to my students,” says Trundle Central School principal John Southon, an early partner in the inaugural road trip initiative to bring vital lessons on inclusion, advocacy and self-expression to students across NSW.
“This will bring a message of hope and belonging that is desperately needed in our schools.”
Many regional and rural students find access to inclusive educational resources challenging. Foster says Qtopia Sydney’s journey will help foster understanding, compassion and belonging and equip students with the tools to challenge harmful behaviours, embrace self-expression and become advocates for positive change.
Qtopia Sydney spans more than 1,750 square metres across three distinct sites and is the largest centre for queer history and culture in the world. It explores queer history from the earliest Indigenous experiences to today’s ongoing fight for inclusion in an interactive environment that’s dedicated to empowerment, storytelling and inclusiveness.
Its first-ever road trip will engage with up to 20 schools from Sydney to Broken Hill in April 2025, ensuring that students in regional and rural areas have access to meaningful, curriculum-aligned education.
In addition to its multi-stop journey, Qtopia Sydney will host ‘town hall days’ that bring students from the local community together to collaborate on inclusive projects. These large-scale events are designed to amplify the impact, showing students how collective efforts can create lasting change – and with a commitment to expanding this initiative annually to reach new towns and communities, Fisher looks forward to helping more future change-makers feel inspired.
Empowering students to challenge harmful behaviours
Outside of metropolitan schools, many regional and rural students find access to inclusive educational resources challenging. Foster says Qtopia Sydney’s journey will help foster understanding, compassion and belonging and equip students with the tools to challenge harmful behaviours, embrace self-expression and become advocates for positive change.
“Our goal is to build a better future through engagement with students and young people, fostering empathy and understanding for generations to come. By educating the next generation of leaders, we aim to cultivate more compassionate, inclusive and accepting communities,” he says.
Turning passion into action
While Qtopia Sydney tells LGBTQIA+ stories, the education programs it delivers are designed to resonate with all students, exploring universal experiences of marginalised and minority groups. Fisher says that by sharing structures and real-world learning opportunities directly to schools, students can feel empowered to explore their own identities and find ways to turn passion into action to benefit their communities.
“Our role – our job – is storytelling and we do it through exhibitions and we do it through our performances and we do it through our programs, which are corporate team-building programs, as well as education,” he told EducationDaily.
“We’ve been working with the NSW Department of Education and the Teachers’ Federation over the past 18 months or so and the idea is that some of the lessons of the LGBTQIA+ community can be imparted to others. It’s about identity and acceptance of others – and acceptance of yourself.”
He says the visiting programs invite the students into role-playing that motivate them to use their imagination “to create scenarios and characters and, in turn, make sense of real-life situations”.
“Role-play has been found to build confidence, promote creativity and encourage positive self-expression. And we believe these are all good things to help the students thrive at school.
They’re good because they help people accept who they are and also, importantly, accept who other people are.”
Qtopia Sydney’s education team has worked closely with the NSW Department of Education to ensure these programs meet curriculum standards and provide practical, engaging learning experiences.
Smith’s hope is that the programs remind students no voice is too small to make a positive difference – whether through acts of kindness, allyship or advocacy.
His connection to the community in Trundle, Smith says, stretches back to his time with another organisation during the drought, when Principal Southon reached out to see if Smith could help with any donated clothing for the school’s students.
In what Smith describes as a “mid-life crisis”, he had learned how to fly a plane, so he filled it with donated clothing and set off on this way.
He remembers some local sheep needing to be shooed from the landing strip before his plane could touch down but, most of all he remembers the way Southon genuinely cared about the community he was part of.
Across four separate visits, Smith has got to know many members of the broader Trundle community, including the teachers and students.
After one presentation, a man in the audience at one of Smiths’ presentations approached and shared a personal story.
“I just wanted to let you know that my son told me he was gay and I was good with it,” the man said.
“And then John (Southon) told me that he just couldn’t sit back and lose another kid who was struggling because of issues around their identity and acceptance,” Smith told EducationDaily.
“That’s when I made it my mission to support these young people. The emotions I felt talking to John – meeting his community and his students and hearing their stories – impacted me so greatly. I just thought, ‘this has to be where we start’.
“Because who do you get to speak to if you’re feeling different? If you live in Sydney and you think you’re gay or trans, there are so many resources available, including at Qtopia.
“In fact, a 16-year-old boy at Qtopia Sydney told me that he was going home to his family that night to tell them he was gay, but that he wanted to come to Qtopia first so that he could tell his parents about the amazing contributions queer people have made around the world and he wanted to explain that to them so he could feel supported and understood.
“What I found from talking to the teachers in Trundle was that, even if the teachers have got goodwill – and they do – it doesn’t mean they have their hands on the actual resources to share with their students. So, our education programs are as much for the teachers as they are for the students.”
The regional incursions include:
- Advocacy and activism: Examining how young people throughout history have used their voices to create social change, inspiring students to do the same.
- Self-expression and identity: Helping students explore what makes them unique and how their personal experiences shape their perspective.
- Legacy activities: Encouraging students to create ripples of change in their own communities through small but meaningful actions.
“We are proud of our partnership with Qtopia Sydney,” says NSW Department of Education Secretary Murat Dizdar.
“Every student, no matter where they live in NSW, should feel like they can be themselves in a safe and inclusive environment.”
Creating strong, empathetic leaders
But while governments can create policies and laws to help put protections in place, Smith knows that there are many diverse members of our broader Australian community, including queer young people across Australia’s cities and towns, whose lives are negatively impacted because feelings of acceptance and inclusivity still feel too far away.
And he knows how quickly positive, well-intentioned plans can suddenly change.
He points to international jurisdictions, where some “hard-fought wins” are being eroded and says, “I don’t want that to come to Australia and I want to make sure that our future leaders are equipped to understand what inclusivity really means, what identity really means and what respect for someone else’s identity really looks like, so that they can be the best possible leaders for the future”.
“Currently, we have three levels of government saying that what we are doing matters, and queer people matter, that self-identity matters. I don’t want that eroded and I will fight really hard to make sure it isn’t eroded,” Smith says.
“And I believe the best way to do that is through education, not legislation.”
Reach out – support is available
- Lifeline: 131 114 or www.lifeline.org.au
- Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467
- Kids Helpline: 1800 55 1800 or kidshelpline.com.au
