For many culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) Australians, language barriers make it difficult to access healthcare, justice, settlement and other social services. For LGBTIQA+ people, these challenges are even greater.
Many concepts relating to gender identity and sexual orientation have no direct equivalent in other languages. Some can be highly sensitive or carry cultural stigma. Without appropriate language support, people may struggle to communicate their identity, feel disrespected or excluded, and therefore avoid seeking essential services altogether.
The challenge also extends to the translating and interpreting profession. Practitioners may be expected to work in sensitive settings but lack specialist knowledge of terminology to support respectful and accurate communication.
‘In the LGBTIQA+ space, it’s even trickier. If the interpreter doesn’t have the right ‘language’, you may traumatise them again. That's why it is important to train professional interpreters and translators so they wouldn't re-traumatise their clients.’
Associate Professor Miranda Lai
School of Global, Urban and Social Studies
Between 2021 and 2023, RMIT’s Associate Professor Miranda Lai partnered with the Australian GLBTIQ Multicultural Council (AGMC) to tackle this longstanding challenge. The team included Associate Professor Erika Gonzalez Garcia, Budi Sudarto (Ananda Training and Consultancy) and Jacqueline Skewes (RMIT graduate and professional translator).
Supported by an initial $115,000 City of Melbourne grant, the team worked with translators, interpreters and LGBTIQA+ community members to co-design multilingual LGBTIQA+ terminology resource.
Following extensive research, the team identified 139 essential LGBTIQA+ terms and co-created multilingual glossaries with community participants. Drawing on their lived experiences, the resources were developed to authentically reflect diverse identities, linguistic perspectives and cultural contexts. The result was a terminology resource that combines linguistic accuracy with cultural nuance and authentic self-expression.
These resources are now freely available through the Rainbow Terminology website.
Rainbow Terminology website
A safe, supportive and empowering home for the multicultural LGBTIQA+ community.
Monolingual, bilingual and multilingual terminology to authentically represent the identities of LGBTIQA+ community members in English, Arabic, Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional), Korean, Persian, Spanish, Thai and Vietnamese.
Since its launch, the Rainbow Terminology website has evolved into a robust resource featuring translations of 139 concepts across 8 languages.
The careful selection of languages and the scale of the glossary set it apart internationally.
‘Two things stand out for our project,’ says Lai. ‘One is our choice of languages, because we didn’t shy away from languages which were strongly dominated by heteronormality and therefore allowed little or no room for diversity. We tackled those languages head-on. The second is the size of the glossary… Ours is one of the largest online.’
Language selection was guided by Melbourne's multicultural demographics, prioritising communities with the greatest need over the ease of translating this glossary into languages that are perceived to encounter less resistance. Careful navigation of the complex cultural contexts surrounding gender diversity was required across all languages selected. Heightened sensitivity was necessary in relation to languages such as Arabic and Persian, given the criminalisation of same-sex relationships in some societies in which they are spoken.
The website has attracted an average of 2,500+ unique visitors annually, including visitors from countries where discussion of LGBTIQA+ identities is heavily restricted.
‘We see people visiting from countries where same-sex relationships are criminalised,’ Lai says. ‘These visitors are invisible. But precisely because of this invisibility, we’re happy that we’re support them in this quiet way.’
The resource is now promoted through the Victorian Health Translations portal, recommended within NSW Health's LGBTIQ+ language guidance, and used by translators, health professionals, community organisations and government agencies.
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Associate Professor Miranda Lai |
The research has extended well beyond the glossary, making a significant contribution to the translating and interpreting profession nationally.
In 2024, additional funding from the Victorian Government-owned interpreting agency LanguageLoop and the philanthropic body Pride Foundation Australia enabled the team to expand the glossary to include Persian and deliver specialist professional development for translators and interpreters.
Ten workshops across Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland brought translators and interpreters together to learn about diversity in a safe environment and roleplay the use of inclusive language in both English and their other languages.
The workshops also revealed that improving inclusive communication required more than vocabulary alone.
‘Some practitioners lack the awareness,’ Lai explains. ‘Some even had negative perceptions. We wanted to raise awareness as well as provide the linguistic tools for their professional work.’
Insights from the workshops informed the development of five online professional learning modules, first delivered through RMIT Online before being deployed to the learning platform of the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI).
The Translating and Interpreting Gender Diversity course represents the first gender diversity training available through NAATI, making the training accessible to practitioners across Australia as part of their ongoing professional development.
For Lai, this marked the project's most significant milestone in research translation.
‘The impact of the project really is that we were able to go national in the professional development infrastructure.’
The project demonstrates how community co-design can create impact well beyond the original research.
What began as a single funded project generated further investment, expanded language resources, informed professional training, strengthened national capability and contributed to RMIT's broader leadership in inclusion.
In 2026, RMIT received the Australian LGBTIQA+ Inclusion Awards Platinum Award, with the Rainbow Terminology initiative showcased as evidence of the University's sustained commitment to inclusion.
Reflecting on the journey, Lai sees the project's greatest success in its ability to keep growing.
‘Looking back, it's got all the elements. We started with one project, then we were able to build on it, adding new languages, running workshops, creating online learning modules and reaching practitioners nationally. It has gone full circle.’
The team welcomes opportunities to scale this project to include additional African, South Asian and other emerging community languages where demand continues to grow. To explore further, please contact RMIT Research Partnerships and Translation or RMIT Philanthropy teams.
For more information, refer to the Rainbow Terminology website.
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