How to support trans and gender-diverse clients

It’s been a challenging time for the trans community worldwide. Lawmakers in the United States recently passed legislation dramatically limiting the community’s access to health care, and a recent decision in the UK Supreme Court ruled that, for the purposes of discrimination protection, sex is defined by biological sex. It’s a ruling that LGBTQ+ organisations say will limit access to legal protection for trans and gender-diverse people.  

 In Australia, the Federal Government is reinforcing support for the community with the implementation of the National Action Plan for the Health and Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People. There’s also a ten-year plan to improve care and support, and to train health care providers. At the same time, the Queensland Government delayed the implementation of anti-discrimination laws, which Equality Australia believes could leave trans people exposed to discrimination and hate speech. 

“Our core … focus will be in exploring the ways in which us as practitioners have worked with trans and gender diverse clients and, in an inclusive way, working with them as safely as possible,” says Pettitt about the upcoming panel.  

A trans person, Pettitt has worked closely with the LGBTQI+ community. “With that lived experience, I’ve definitely had colleagues come uptown to me and […] enquire about the best ways to move forward, work with or support trans and gender diverse clients,” they said. Pettitt also provides LGBTQI+ training to Legal Aid. 

So, do the developments in the United Kingdom, and even Queensland, impact NSW’s trans community? Pettitt believes they do. “[I]t impacts in a way where we know that to best support the trans and gender diverse community [is] how to speak with them,” they say. “How to respectfully interact with them, and to ensure that we lower those experiences of incidental or unconscious discrimination.” 

A 2022 paper from La Trobe University noted that trans and gender-diverse people face and experience increasing discrimination when interacting with the Victorian legal system. Pettitt says the community can often be sceptical that solicitors will be able to engage in a way that avoids oppression, discrimination, and deadnaming (an act considered as trans vilification, where a trans person is purposefully addressed by their pre-transition name). “We try our best to make sure that all clients are as safe as possible and are represented in a meaningful way and [are] apple to access justice,” Pettitt says. They say when solicitors engage with trans and gender diverse clients in a positive or even creative way, this limits the trauma experienced by those clients. 

Pettitt notes that Legal Aid works with clients to upskill courts, the police, and the justice system. As an example, Pettitt brings up the example of a client not feeling safe to identify as trans or gender diverse in specific spaces. This may call for a client to be addressed with a name that is not theirs. “The hope there is to alleviate the impact of gender dysphoria,”, Pettittexplains. “If we can show our clients that we see who they are, even in a system that is still catching up, it allows a little bit more safety and a little bit more of a trauma-informed approach.” 

“There’s nothing wrong with asking the question,” Pettitt says. “How would you like me to refer to you? What pronouns would you like me to use for you? Those are important.” 

The second tip is it’s ok to get it wrong anddon’t dwell on it if you do. “Don’t make that moment about you; if you are wrong, apologise, if necessary; otherwise, correct yourself and move on.” Pettitt notes that trans and gender-diverse people are aware that many people may not have the experience to interact with them, so it’s better to be kind to oneself and move along. 

The third tip is to hold nuance. “Knowing who someone is and speaking to them in ways they need.”  

“You may know that someone is trans. You may know what their pronouns are. You may know their name but be conscious that there are certain places that may not be safe for them,” says Pettitt. “There’s a delicate balance in these spaces where our legal names and ways of changing our legal names may be more complicated.” 

In the meantime, there are resources to support solicitors. Legal Aid can provide further consultation and information, and the Inner City Legal Centre, with its vast experience on the subject, has a statewide trans and gender-diverse legal service available (click here to read more).  

The Legal Aid Criminal Law Conference 2025 starts on Wednesday, June 25. For more information, visit https://lansw.eventsair.com/2025-criminal-law-conference/