Rainbow student advisors

Get support

The University of Canterbury and the wider community have a range of diverse support services and social groups for you to use and get involved with.

Rainbow Advisors

UC has a friendly team of Rainbow Advisors who can help support you throughout your time here. Whether you need help with a specific issue, feel like you are falling behind, or need a supportive person to talk things through with. We can help with a wide range of problems and are a great starting point for almost any issue.

What we can help with:

• Settling into University
• Name changes
• Academic planning and support
• Hardship funding
• Transition related support
• Rainbow related enquiries, concerns and complaints

No issue or concern is too small or insignificant so please reach out anytime. If we can't help, we'll try our best to find someone who can.

Feel free to get in touch with the team below or email us.

Information for trans and gender diverse students

Useful information for transgender and gender diverse students at UC can be found on the Transitioning at UC page.

QCanterbury

QCanterbury is UC's queer club on campus. Their main focus is to create safe social spaces for sexual, romantic and gender diverse students at the University of Canterbury.

They have a wide variety of events throughout the year, and encourage the community to get involved where possible, in whatever capacity they feel comfortable.

QCanterbury also have a dedicated rainbow room on campus in James Logie 107 which is often used for events and is free for students to use as a friendly study or hang out space. This can be found via the building entrance marked “James Logie Level 1 (Teaching Rooms)”

Check out their Facebook page or sign up to stay up to date with the latest news and events.

Support for rainbow neurodivergent students

Neurodivergent is an umbrella term for people whose brains think, learn and or behave differently to what society considers "typical". Examples of neurodivergence include Autism, ADHD, dyslexia and Tourette’s. Check out the below supports for neurodivergent students at UC:

• Te Ratonga Whaikaha | Student Accessibility Service
• NDSoc - UC Neurodivergent Students Society

Information for parents

Check out our section or the links below to learn more about the rainbow community and how to best support and be there for your child:

• NZ Parents and Guardians of Transgender and Gender Diverse Children
• OutLine NZ - Let’s Talk: A Resource Guide for Parents
• Be there - Supporting rainbow rangatahi

Counselling

Free counselling services are available to any UC student who has paid the student levy. You can find out more about this service on the UC Health Centre website.

In the case that the counselling services offered through UC Health are not suitable, the rainbow advisor team can help you find the support to meet your needs.

Other supports

Check out some of the other support services and social groups at UC and in the community:

• University of Canterbury Students' Association
• UC Health Centre
• Moana Vā
• Qtopia

Helplines

• OutLine Aotearoa – 0800 688 5463 (6-9pm every evening)
• Youthline – 0800 37 66 33 (24/7) | Free text 234 (8am - midnight) | Webchat (4:30pm-10:00pm)
• Lifeline Aotearoa - 0800 543 354 | Free text 4357 (24/7)