A young person in your life is attending their first Minus18 event. It's super exciting, but we know it can also be stressful too as a parent or guardian.

Here's our guide to Minus18 events for adults.

What are Minus18 events like?

In three words? So much fun! Minus18 events are filled with good vibes, new friends, and LGBTQIA+ pride. They're an identity-affirming celebration for young people aged 12 to 19, and a chance to make new friends. We know firsthand the difference support from community can make – so this is a fun celebration designed for just that.

Generally, our dance parties will include a DJ and some performances, with heaps of space to dance. We’ll always have a chill-out space too, for when attendees want a quieter moment.

What sort of safety measures are in place at Minus18 events?

We work hard to ensure all of our youth attendees are safe and supported during our events. Here are the main ways we ensure their safety:

• All event crew, including Minus18 Staff, Volunteers, Youth Workers, Security, Contractors, Performers and Venue Staff are required to have a valid Working with Childrens Check to work at Minus18 events.
• All Minus18 events are alcohol, smoke and drug free. Security complete bag checks on arrival to ensure all attendees are complying with this.
• A team of Youth Workers are hired to supervise the event, and provide support where required.
• We provide a quiet space at events for young people needing a break from the activity and sound.
• For our major events, we arrange First Aid Officers.
• All activities and programming at the event are vetted to ensure they are youth appropriate.

Do attendees need an ID to get in? My child has registered for a ticket in their preferred name, will this be an issue if they are ID'ed?

We'll only ID attendees who we feel look outside of the 12-19 age bracket. In these instances, we’ll be looking at the person’s photo and listed age. We want attendees to register in a name that is comfortable for them, and we know how stressful this can be for trans and gender diverse people, so we won’t ever be looking at their name on the ticket or ID.

If I register for a ticket for myself, can I enter the venue with my child?

Unfortunately we can’t welcome in parents and carers to our events, as this does not comply with our child safety practices. Rest assured though, that our Youth Workers, volunteers, friendship facilitators and Minus18 staff will be there to make sure your child has the sparkliest and best experience possible.

Our events always sell out, so please do not register a ticket for yourself. This will take a ticket away from a young person who we can guarantee is SUPER KEEN to attend.

Can't I even have a peek?

Unfortunately not – even this does not comply with our child safety practices. You're more than welcome to arrive back early to pick your child up after the event. You might even get chatting with some likeminded parents!

My child is attending by themselves and is very anxious. What will you do to make sure they’re okay?

First up, we love that your child is taking the plunge and attending by themselves! We know it takes guts. That said, you might be surprised how common it is for young people to attend Minus18 events solo! Reassure your child that lots of people are in the same boat, and our volunteers, friendship facilitators and safety angels will be around to help introduce them to others.

Our team of certified Youth Workers roam the event spaces and intervene when they see young people looking anxious.

Can I pick up my child from the venue after the event?

Absolutely. You are very welcome to wait outside the venue towards the end of the event. We do our best to make sure everyone is out once the event concludes, but sometimes queues for the cloak room and adding new friends on social media can mean your child comes out a bit later than the scheduled event finish time.

Do you support young people who are getting public transport to the event?

We provide our attendees with information on how to get to the event venue via different modes of public transport. Depending on the venue location, we also offer supervised train station pick up and drop off by foot.

If your child is using public transport to access the event, please help them ensure they’ve got their route planned, and their public transport ticket/card ready. We are not able to provide supervision or support whilst they're in transit.

Do young people have to identify as LGBTQIA+ to attend?

Absolutely not! Though our events are designed to celebrate and welcome young people from the LGBTQIA+ community, we welcome all age-appropriate youth to attend.

We put no pressure on attendees to declare their identity at the event and encourage them to express themselves however they like! Your child more than welcome to attend with their straight ally pals.

My child has specific dietary and/or access needs. How can I make sure these are met?

Please make sure your child’s dietary or access needs are included in their ticket registration on Eventbrite. Feel free to provide as much information as possible so we can do our best to capture this in our event planning.

If you’d like to speak about your child’s access needs directly, contact Event Coordinator, Miller Soding, at miller@minus18.org.au

As a general rule, we do not include any foods that have nuts or traces of nuts.

Where can I see all of Minus18's upcoming events? Is there a PDF I can download?

In a word? Yes!

We're releasing six months of our life-affirming LGBTQIA+ youth events at a time, so every young person, parent, carer and teacher knows exactly when the next opportunity for queer youth to connect is coming up. It's Queer Youth Connect, our calendar of free youth events.

Check out upcoming events here

Download your guide to Queer Youth Connect here

Can I donate to Minus18 as a thank you for supporting my child?

We’d love you to! We're only able to do what we do thanks to the generous support of the community. If you do feel like donating in support of the work we do creating youth events, delivering education, and creating free resources, we can't thank you enough.

Every single ticket to Queer Formal is completely free, thanks to our supporters; every $50 donation equates to a young person attending Queer Formal.

Donate in support of our work >>