00:00When Bridget Flack was reported missing four years ago, her loved ones feared the worst.
00:07But police didn't conduct a thorough search, leaving hundreds of LGBT community members
00:12to look for Bridget themselves.
00:16They made the grim discovery 11 days later.
00:19Not only did we live through the pain of Bridget desperately seeking help, then being missing,
00:24and then finding her, but we've relived it multiple more times in the nearly four years
00:28that have now passed.
00:29Today a coroner found Bridget's case highlighted a bigger problem, that there's a lack of support
00:34for the transgender community, and police and health officials need to do more.
00:39In 2024, it is not okay that there is a wrong door for anyone who's in distress or needing
00:45medical care.
00:47The coroner also looked into the suicides of four other transgender women, including
00:51Matt Byrne and Heather Perard.
00:54The inquest heard several had tried in vain to access medical and mental health treatment
00:59before their deaths.
01:01Coroner Ingrid Giles said the public health system struggles to be responsive to the basic
01:05needs of some of its most vulnerable community members.
01:08The coroner called on the government to provide more funding for transgender health services.
01:13She also recommended Victoria Police provide mandatory training for all members and update
01:19its IT systems so information about transgender people can be recorded.
01:24The coroner's findings are both deep and specific and accommodate some of the cultural
01:31nuance that we've been calling for for a very long time.
01:35The findings were thorough and clear and directed at the right people who can make that change
01:40if they choose to.
01:41The state government and Victoria Police say they'll now review the recommendations.
01:46The government says it's committed to supporting trans and gender diverse Victorians.
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