OutLine Aotearoa
He aha te mea nui o te ao?
He tāngata! He tāngata! He tāngata!
What’s the most important thing in the world?
It is people! It is people! It is people!
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To support, affirm and advance the Aotearoa New Zealand Rainbow communities* to achieve successful outcomes by;
providing programmes which cater for social, educational and emotional needs
advocating for social, cultural and legal rights
nurturing and providing resources to meet community aspirations
* We use “Rainbow” as an umbrella term to describe people whose sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression or sex characteristics differ from majority, binary norms. This includes people who identify with terms like takatāpui, lesbian, gay, bisexual, intersex, transgender, queer, non-binary or fa’afafine, as well as people who don’t use specific words for their identity, people whose identity changes over time, and people who are in the process of understanding their own identity and may not have ‘come out’ to themselves or others.
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Our phone support and chat support services are available every day between 6pm to 9pm at 0800 OUTLINE or outline.org.nz/chat.
If you’d like to access one of our peer support services, please fill in the relevant referral form for Transgender Peer Support or the Conversion Practices Survivor Network.
Please follow the relevant link to contact us about becoming a volunteer, or seeking support for Rainbow research projects.
OutLine Aotearoa is an all-ages Rainbow mental health organisation that provides support throughout Aotearoa to Takatāpui, MVPFAFF+ and Rainbow communities, their friends, whānau, and those questioning.
Our support line is answered by trained LGBTQIA+ volunteers. Leave a message if we can’t answer and we can call you back.
OutLine Aotearoa is an all-ages Rainbow mental health organisation that provides support throughout Aotearoa to Takatāpui, MVPFAFF+ and Rainbow communities, their friends, whānau, and those questioning. We offer a nationwide, free and confidential support line and online chat support service between 6pm-9pm every day. We also provide peer support for trans and non-binary people in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, and for conversion practices survivors throughout Aotearoa.
About Us
Founded in 1975, OutLine Aotearoa is an all-ages Rainbow mental health organisation that provides support throughout Aotearoa to Takatāpui, MVPFAFF+ and Rainbow communities, their friends, whānau, and those questioning.
We offer a nationwide, free and confidential support line and online chat support service between 6pm-9pm every day.
We also provide peer support for trans and non-binary people in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, and for conversion practices survivors throughout Aotearoa.
For the better part of a decade, OutLine Aotearoa has also been providing Rainbow specialist counselling services. This service is currently on pause while we undertake work to transform the way we provide counselling to our communities.
Call us on 0800 OUTLINE (0800 688 5463) any evening between 6pm and 9pm to talk to a trained volunteer from Aotearoa’s LGBTQIA+ communities. It’s free and confidential. Some of the topics people call to talk about include family relationships, loneliness and isolation, sexuality and gender identity, sexual health, navigating gender-affirming healthcare and meeting people.
Our support line and online chat services are answered by volunteers from Aotearoa’s Rainbow communities who have been trained to help others on issues around sexual orientation and gender identity. Currently the organisation has around 50 volunteers who have all undertaken ongoing training and supervision.
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Call us on 0800 OUTLINE (0800 688 5463) any evening between 6pm and 9pm to talk to a trained volunteer from Aotearoa’s rainbow communities.
It’s free and confidential. Leave a message if we can’t answer and we can call you back.
Who is this service for?
We’re here if you want to talk about rainbow identities and lives. We focus on topics around sexual orientation, gender identity and diverse sex characteristics, as well as rainbow people’s life experiences.
We welcome calls from people who are questioning their sexuality or gender identity, LGBTIQA+/rainbow people, their friends, whānau and colleagues, or professionals who work with rainbow people as clients or customers.
All calls and callers are confidential and anonymous.
When we say rainbow, we mean people whose sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression or sex characteristics are different from majority norms. We’re including people who identify with words like takatāpui, lesbian, gay, bisexual, intersex, transgender, queer, non-binary or fa’afafine, as well as people who don’t use specific words for their identity, people whose identity changes over time, and people who are still in the process of understanding their own identity.
What can we help with?
Our volunteers welcome your call to discuss topics around sexual orientation, gender identity and diverse sex characteristics. They can help you find sources of trusted information, connection to community or peers, and medical or mental health services that welcome rainbow people.
Some of the topics people call to talk about include family relationships, loneliness and isolation, sexuality and gender identity, sexual health, navigating gender-affirming healthcare and meeting people.
For people who want to talk about topics that are not related to rainbow identities and lives, please check this list of services that may better meet your needs.
How to access this service
Call us on 0800 688 5463 (0800 OUTLINE). It’s free and confidential to call. We’re here every evening, 6pm-9pm.
What if there’s no answer?
OutLine’s peer support services are provided by volunteers from our rainbow communities, meaning you can speak to someone without judgement, coming from a place of understanding and experience. Because our phone service relies on volunteer capacity and availability, there may be times when volunteers are unavailable.
If you call and we can’t answer, thanks for reaching out. We’re sorry we can’t be there for you in this moment, but don’t worry – we can call you back when a volunteer is free.
Simply leave a voicemail message with your name and phone number, and one of our volunteers will call you back – usually within the next three to four days. Our call-back hours are between 6pm to 9pm every day. Return calls are still free, confidential and anonymous – we’ll only use your name and phone number to call you back.
If you’d rather not leave a message, please feel free to try calling another time.
You can also try our free and confidential online chat service.
If you need more immediate support, please see this list of support services. In an emergency phone 111, if anyone is in immediate physical danger.
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The OutLine Chat Support Service is a free peer support service offering rainbow-focused support to people throughout Aotearoa!
Who is this service for?
We’re here if you want to talk about rainbow identities and lives. We focus on topics around sexual orientation, gender identity and diverse sex characteristics, as well as rainbow people’s life experiences.
We welcome chats from people who are questioning their sexuality or gender identity, LGBTIQA+/rainbow people, their friends, whānau and colleagues, or professionals who work with rainbow people as clients or customers.
All chats and chatters are confidential and anonymous.
When we say rainbow, we mean people whose sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression or sex characteristics are different from majority norms. We’re including people who identify with words like takatāpui, lesbian, gay, bisexual, intersex, transgender, queer, non-binary or fa’afafine, as well as people who don’t use specific words for their identity, people whose identity changes over time, and people who are still in the process of understanding their own identity.
What can we help with?
Our volunteers welcome your chat to discuss topics around sexual orientation, gender identity and diverse sex characteristics. They can help you find sources of trusted information, connection to community or peers, and medical or mental health services that welcome rainbow people.
Some of the topics people get in touch to chat about include family relationships, loneliness and isolation, sexuality and gender identity, sexual health, navigating gender-affirming healthcare and meeting people.
For people who want to chat about topics that are not related to rainbow identities and lives, please check the list of services at the bottom of this page that may better meet your needs.
How to access this service
Click on the Chat Support Service icon on this page to open up the Chat window. This will ask for your name, age, region, email address, and what has brought you to the Chat this evening and then enter you into the queue to chat with one of our trained rainbow volunteers! It’s free and confidential to chat.
We’re here every evening, 6pm-9pm.
If you require more immediate support, please refer to our resources pages or click here to access support immediately.
What if nobody is available to chat?
Our peer support services are provided by volunteers from our rainbow communities, meaning you can speak to someone without judgement, coming from a place of understanding and experience.
Because our chat service relies on volunteer capacity and availability, there are times when our volunteers are unavailable or are busy helping someone else. If you’ve started a chat but haven’t received a response, thanks for reaching out. We’re sorry we can’t be there for you in this moment, and are working on ways to improve this.
If you like, try calling us on our free phone line (0800 688 5463) between 6pm to 9pm every day, where you can speak to a volunteer or leave a voicemail message. You can also try chatting again another night.
If you need more immediate support, please see this list of support services. In an emergency phone 111, if anyone is in immediate physical danger.
Other Help
OutLine is not a crisis service so if you’re experiencing significant mental distress, it may be more helpful for you to call or text 1737 instead. They have peer support workers and trained counsellors who can provide mental health crisis support.
Other services that might be helpful when experiencing mental distress or crisis:
Lifeline 0800 543 354 (0800 LIFELINE) or free text 4357 (HELP)
Youthline 0800 376 633, free text 234, email talk@youthline.co.nz or online chat
Suicide Crisis Helpline 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO)
If you’re experiencing suicidal ideation, planning and/or intending to carry out significant harm to yourself please contact your local DHB Mental Health Crisis Assessment Team.
If you’re at immediate risk or in danger, call 111.
Privacy and Feedback
We understand that privacy is important to you. It’s also important to us. So, we’ve set out how we collect, use, protect and share your information in a way that we hope you find informative, clear and easy to understand here.
When you enter your details into the fields of the chat widget, those details are moved into a secure form and disappear from the software once the chat is finished. We collect region information and the reason you’re messaging because it’s helpful when reviewing our service provision and applying for funding – and we need this to continue providing appropriate support services!
So that we can continue to provide the best possible support and resources to our rainbow communities, we would love to receive your feedback on our chat support services. This feedback can be anything from experiences you’ve had using our chat support services, or suggestions for improvements that would make you more likely to utilise the service. Follow the JotForm link here to complete our short survey.
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OutLine provides a free peer support group for survivors of conversion practices to connect with other survivors, share their experiences, provide mutual support, and share strategies for healing.
The Conversion Practices Survivor Network has a regular facilitated peer support group that is available to survivors throughout Aotearoa. The group meets online monthly via Zoom.
Survivors can also connect with OutLine’s trained staff facilitators to access information and pathways to other support services.
Who is this service for?
The Conversion Practices Survivor Network is for rainbow people aged 18 upwards throughout Aotearoa who have lived experience of conversion practices.
Conversion practices are actions taken by a person or group to try to change or suppress another person’s sexuality, gender identity or gender expression.
Conversion practices can also include surgeries or medication to change things about intersex people’s bodies to align with endosex expectations, and other practices to make an intersex person’s visible appearance, behaviour or identity conform to the sex they were designated at birth or later in life.
While there is no evidence that conversion practices can change a person’s sexuality or gender, there is significant evidence that they can cause long-term harm and trauma.
People with lived experience of conversion practices are often referred to as survivors.
Conversion practices have been illegal in Aotearoa since 2022. You can learn more about what constitutes a conversion practice, and how to make a complaint, at the website of Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission.
If we get referrals from people younger than 18 we will help them find individual support elsewhere.
What can we help with?
OutLine’s Conversion Practices Survivor Network is a free service that enables survivors from throughout Aotearoa to seek support and connect with other survivors.
Our trained staff facilitators have lived experience as rainbow people and as survivors of conversion practices, and draw on their expertise to create a safe space for survivors from diverse backgrounds.
Our facilitators can assist with referrals to our peer support group, which meets via Zoom to enable participation from survivors around the motu. The monthly meetings allow space for participants to connect with other survivors, share about their experiences of conversion practices and give each other support and share coping strategies for healing.
Our facilitators are also able to provide information to survivors, including help with referrals to other support agencies and counselling services. Where needed, we can also provide one-on-one support for group members.
How does peer support work?
Peer support and ongoing relationships with other survivors can reduce shame and self-doubt by helping participants to process the negative feelings and messages they may have internalised during the conversion practices experience, and understand these are not their fault. The side-by-side/less hierarchical nature of the relationship in peer support can also make it easier for trauma survivors to form relationships of trust. Isolation and the inability to trust other people caused by conversion practices can be worked through very well in a peer support setting.
It is, however, important to note that the Conversion Practices Survivor Network is only one part of someone’s healing journey, and does not negate the need for counselling, other trauma work and/or cultural healing processes.
Survivors of conversion practices are an extremely diverse group, in terms of their rainbow identities as well as their cultural identities, ages and life experiences. Experiences of conversion practices are also very diverse with a range of experiences within religious and cultural settings and within clinical settings.
Our facilitators combine lived experience, existing expertise and additional training as required to ensure they have a deep understanding of this diversity and are equipped to support the complex needs arising from the actual experiences of participating survivors.
How to access this service
If you’d like to access this service, please fill in our referral form to tell us a bit about yourself and what kinds of support you’re looking for.
Once we’ve received your referral, one of our facilitators will get in touch to discuss your specific needs, and assess what other supports you have available in your everyday life. The assessment process may also include referrals to other services or groups relating to conversion practices or other types of mental or social support.
To make a complaint about conversion practices, or for more information on what constitutes a conversion practice, please contact Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission.
