Time to recognise sexual orientation as a social determinant of health

A recent Senate Committee report should serve as a catalyst for further action

The outcome of a recent Senate Community Affairs References Committee inquiry into Australia’s response1 to the World Health Organization’s report on the social determinants of health2 makes for welcome reading, particularly for lesbian, gay and bisexual Australians. Encouragingly, the Senate Committee has acknowledged what many of us already know — that sexual orientation, conceived of as the dynamic interaction of attraction, behaviour and identity, functions as a social determinant of health.