Ob Case Study

has been in existence since 2007 when a number of interested individuals in the sex and gender

diverse community gathered to discuss the possibility of a physical centre to support people

with gender identity issues, and to act as a hub for community, medical and mental health

support. While Sydney has a government-funded Gender Centre, Melbourne had yet to secure

funding for such a scheme. The members voted to create a project to work towards this goal

and have recently incorporated for this ongoing purpose. Within this essay is discussion of

policies and procedures, the management structure of the organisation and how the organisation

has modified practices in light of difficulties it has faced.

Organisation make-up, Policies and Procedures

ZBGC is a volunteer-run organisation with a members booklet outlining policies and

procedures relating to individuals involvement, email and phone usage, templates, record

keeping, media enquiries, and a formalised complaints and decision making process. These

policies are written and revised by the volunteers in the organisation as needs arise. Such

changes occur after discussion with the steering committee (the “Working Group”) which is

made up of the volunteers in the organisation. The Working Group has varied between 12

volunteers down to six in more recent months.

The work of ZBGC

The work of ZBGC is around lobbying government to fund a physical gender centre

for the sex and gender diverse population of Victoria; supporting sex and gender diverse people

with general enquiries and running occasional events. ZBGC has a well constructed and

active website, their “virtual” gender centre, which contains a resource directory, community

calendar, notice-board and an online forum for questions and answers. In recent months, the

ZBGC Management Structure and Decision-Making

The management structure of ZBGC is effectively a self-organising team, called the

“Working Group”, where everyone has the same rights...