The Australian Volunteers Program aims to be fully supportive and inclusive of the LGBTIQ+ community and be exemplary in our approach. Working towards a safe, supportive and equitable environment is an essential part of ensuring overall diversity and inclusion. We recognise that LGBTIQ+ volunteers, staff and partners have been and always will be integral to our success. 

The Australian Volunteers Program acknowledges the significance of language and terminology and that the use of inappropriate language and terminology can be disempowering and, in some cases, harmful to communities and individuals. We believe that in order to effectively engage LGBTIQ+ people in our program, it is important to use the language and terminology that is used by them. We recognise that across the global community people use a wide range of terms to describe themselves depending on where they live and how they identify. We fully support local autonomy and strive to use local definitions and cultural terms in the countries we operate in.