Better Together® is Australia’s national LGBTIQA+ conference with the aim of bringing together LGBTIQA+ people and allies to explore the most important issues facing LGBTIQA+ communities; learn from each other and forge alliances to promote a better, more just, and fairer society for all Australians.

Better Together® is a national platform to establish meaningful connections so we can work together to drive meaningful change.

Some conferences are highly-curated, and the content is a reflection of the message the organisers wish to share. Better Together is a bit different.

Better Together is a community-driven conference. In practice, that means the sessions have come from the community, they are not heavily curated by The Equality Project. If it's in the program, someone has submitted a proposal for that session under their own steam, and we say yes to as much as possible.

Where we identify a gap, we will reach out and encourage organisations or experts to put in a proposal to ensure our communities are all represented, but with so many intersecting life experiences and communities it's never perfect.

What you see and hear at Better Together is a genuine reflection of our community, in all its diversity. The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the person expressing them, and are not necessarily reflective of the views of The Equality Project.

We provide the space for people to learn and connect with each other, and while we encourage open and honest discussions, we also expect all attendees to respect the opinions of others and to engage in respectful dialogue. If you think something is missing in Better Together 2024, we encourage you to submit a proposal for the 2025 conference and get involved.

The definition of a conference is “a meeting of people with a shared interest, typically one that takes place over several days”. A conference that you may be more familiar with is an academic, business, or trade conference.

While Better Together® is a meeting of people with a shared interest, our mission is to make this event accessible to the wider community; many of whom may not have attended or spoken at a conference or gathering of this kind before.

This means that Better Together® might be a little different from other conferences you may have attended. Better Together® can be described as a community-driven forum in which people exchange ideas and discuss important public issues.

When it comes to content curation, we invite anyone who can submit a relevant and impactful idea to take part in the conference. We use the term “propose a session” instead of “submit an abstract” when we open the program for speakers to propose an idea for a presentation (or session) that can be in the form of a workshop, a panel discussion, or a talk.

In addition, through the support of our partners and sponsors, we’ve created a more accessible pricing structure and conference scholarship program. Most scholarship recipients pay no more than 30% of the full 2-day conference ticket. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants are eligible for a full scholarship. Other groups such as those living in regional, rural or remote areas, seniors, refugees and asylum seekers may have access to free or subsidised access. And people who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing may be eligible for a full scholarship.

You can purchase your 2-day conference ticket here.

Accessibility: If you experience difficulty purchasing tickets through this website, please contact us here so we can assist you.

Accessibility means something different for everyone. We strive to make the conference as accessible as possible within the limitations of the venue and the operations budget.

Please visit our Accessibility page for more information.

A plenary is a session or event attended by all participants in the conference. No other sessions will be running at the same time. This allows us to come back together as a group at key moments in the conference.

A workshop is an interactive session, where attendees are participants, rather than an audience.

The format involves interaction from participants which may include activities like writing, artmaking, storytelling, brainstorming as well as physical or verbal group exercises or games.

A panel is a session with 2-5 speakers, plus a facilitator or moderator. The speakers are usually sitting on chairs facing the audience to form a “panel”. Panels are usually structured with time for the speakers to discuss a specific topic, sharing their expertise and unique perspectives, and time for the audience to ask questions of the panel members.

BetterThink is a new session type at Better Together®. BetterThink is a showcase of speakers presenting impactful and well-formed ideas that will help us “think better”.

Inspired by the short and powerful format of TED Talks, the aim of BetterThink is to share great ideas in under 20 minutes.

The format is best suited for a lecture-driven presentation with the aim of delivering information, stories of lived experience, and great new ideas in a short and impactful way.

Better Together® is open to anyone working in and serving LGBTIQA+ communities. This includes allies, individuals and organisations that are interested in embedding inclusive and culturally safe spaces and services for LGBTIQA+ people. And understanding the needs of LGBTIQA+ communities in all walks of life in order to create better outcomes.

We encourage attendees to engage in conversations with people they might not otherwise share space with, to learn from each other and to build connections.

Sessions for Better Together® are curated from an open call out to the entire community.

We ask the community to propose an idea with the aim of exploring the most current issues facing Australia’s LGBTIQA+ communities. Prospective speakers are invited to submit their ideas by completing our “Propose a Session” form.

We strive to make sure that the conference program includes the most relevant and current topics that support the conference aims and that it represents the highly diverse makeup of Australia’s LGBTIQA+ communities.

Better Together® is not an academic or business conference but a community-driven one. We want this event to be accessible to the wider community and be inclusive of relevant individuals and organisations who don’t normally get an opportunity to participate and present at a conference in an impactful way.

Better Together® is an initiative of The Equality Project®. The conference is organised by our small team of up to 5 people and backed by a wonderful army of volunteers. We do not engage an external conference management company - this is truly a grassroots undertaking.

Better Together® is not possible without the generous support of The Equality Project’s event partners, sponsors, and donors who provide both cash and in-kind support.

The Better Together program will be released in early 2024. To reduce our impact on the environment, the program will only be released digitally.

Large-format printed copies of the program will be available at the venue.

The best way to support Better Together® is to purchase a ticket.

You can also volunteer during the 2-day event. The Equality Project® is a small team, and the conference hosts 500+ attendees, so we rely on a fantastic team of volunteers to assist us. Applications to volunteer will open in 2024.

We welcome sponsorships. Find out more about sponsoring the conference by visiting the prospectus here.

We also welcome donations. Become a regular donor and help us provide more scholarships to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants.

The LGBTIQA+ stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer (Questioning) and Asexual/Aromantic. As our understanding of this community is changing rapidly, the + acknowledges the parts of our community who do not have a specific letter in this acronym.

The use of this acronym is not intended to exclude people who may not be specifically represented by this term. Rather it is respectfully being used as an umbrella term to refer collectively to a wider range of people who are diverse in sex, gender and sexual orientation.

An alternative term is “Queer” or “Rainbow”.

If you need assistance with your 2-day conference ticket, you can apply for a conference scholarship here.

If you are eligible, you can register using the Mob or Deaf/HoH ticket types. There’s also a Seniors ticket and if you’re a presenting a session, your 2-day conference ticket will be discounted.

Yes. All attendees, speakers, sponsors, vendors, partners, and volunteers at our conferences/events are required to adhere to the following Code of Conduct:

The Equality Project® is dedicated to providing a harassment-free environment for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, or religion (or lack thereof).

We do not tolerate harassment of participants, event organisers, volunteers, and staff in any form.

Sexual language and imagery is not appropriate during any aspect of the event/conference, including talks, workshops, parties, social media such as Twitter, or other online media.

Conference participants violating these rules may be sanctioned or expelled from the event/conference without a refund at the discretion of The Equality Project®. Participants asked to stop any harassing behaviour are expected to comply immediately.

You can read more about the conference Terms and Conditions here.

At this time, we do not host Better Together® in an online format.

The conference will not be recorded, however, The Equality Project® will audio record some sessions for use in the Better Together® podcast, including audience questions.

By virtue of your attendance, you agree to your voice being used in this way if it is captured in a recording. If you do not wish for your voice to be in a recording, please let us know ahead of time.

Yes, please visit this page for accommodation deals we’ve curated with local providers.

Yes. A Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony will take place at an outdoor location near the venue, in collaboration with The Long Walk.

Better Together® 2024 will take place in Djilang on the lands of the Wadawurrung people.