Keely Johnson was born into a nuclear family.

You know, the kind you may have dreamed of having if you grew up in a broken home.

One dad. One mum. A sister.

But that all changed before Keely reached her second birthday; her parents split up.

By the 19-year-old's account, the divorce blew over fairly quickly. Not too long afterwards, both of her parents were in separate relationships.

From traditional to rainbow

Her dad started seeing his current partner, Beth. And her mum entered a relationship with a woman named Lell.

Everyday life in the picturesque coastal town of Hallidays Point in New South Wales (population about 4,197) continued.

Keely, centre, with her dad, left, and mum, right, who split before she was two years old. ( Supplied: Keely Johnson )

Keely and her older sister, Tiarne, started splitting their time between their parents' houses, which they also shared with their five new step-siblings.

The kids at Keely's primary school did not pay any attention to the new family dynamic and neither did Keely, for that matter.

She did not have any labels for what her family was at this point (the term she now uses is "rainbow families"), though she says she knew her family was different from others' due to a lack of media representation and other rainbow families in town.

Then came high school

It was in high school that Keely first had to explain her family dynamic to others.

"When I went to high school, that was a whole lot of other kids coming together rather than the kids I grew up with at primary school. It was like, 'Oh OK, this is a thing that people don't understand'," she says.

Still, her fellow students' reactions to her family were generally fine — but she did notice some changing their behaviour around her.

Keely, second from left, with her siblings and two of her mums, back left and right. ( Supplied: Keely Johnson )

"A lot of people know now not to say, 'Oh, that's gay', but that was the word that was going around when I was growing up," Keely remembers. "And people would be like, 'Keely's coming, shhh'."

When she discusses it, Keely's normal confident manner gives way and she begins to fight back tears. A few fall.

"It's not even that bad," she says. "But it was the first time I noticed people being different around me because of my family."

Keely, far right, with her sister, far left, their dad and his partner, centre. ( Supplied: Keely Johnson )

Rainbow families like Keely's are on the rise

The number of rainbow families in Australia is rising — but they are still few and far between, comparatively speaking.

The 2016 census recorded a slight jump in the number of same-sex couple families with children to 15 per cent, up from 12 per cent in 2011.

In contrast, the 2016 census found nearly 55 per cent of opposite-sex couples had children.

The same census counted 10,500 children aged 25 years and under living with same-sex couple families, compared to 4.6 million of those living with opposite-sex couple families.

But there is still a way to go

In general, the census found same-sex couples were more likely to live in capital cities than outside of them. They were also more likely to live in the inner suburbs of those cities.

The rainbow families who do live in outer suburban areas feel less included, have less access to community and are less likely to be out about their families according to one expert.

That expert is Jennifer Power, a researcher for the Australian Research Centre for Sex Health and Society (ARCSHS), who says the centre's research confirms this.

It has also identified the same trend in rural and regional areas, albeit to a lesser extent.

"This is because people tend to have a little bit more support around them than they do in, say, outer suburbs. But there are still definitely more experiences of alienation and disconnection or homophobia in these areas compared to the inner city," Dr Power explains.

These census stats and ARCSHS' research fits in with Keely's experience growing up in rural NSW.

She says she lived in a supportive bubble, even though she did not see any families like hers growing up.

'The kids are OK. Bullying is the issue'

Aside from a few other instances of people treating her differently, Keely said she would not change anything about her family, or her school experience.

"I'm so happy and I'm so proud of my family. If people do ask me about them then I'm so happy to say, 'That's my mum, that's my mum's partner, these are all my family members'."

Dr Power says there is evidence of kids in schools experiencing bullying related to their parents' sexualities, as Keely did.

"And that in particular happens in the early years of high school," she explains.

"From the research ARCSHS has done, it does show that it's more common in regional, rural and outer suburban areas than in inner-city schools."

Dr Power says this sort of bullying is homophobic and that this is what we as a society should be focusing on — as opposed to asking whether kids from rainbow families are OK.

"Public discussions about rainbow families have this bizarre focus on whether the kids are OK," she says.

"It comes up again and again — people aren't ever asking this question because they care about these kids.

"They're asking the question because they want to know if we should intervene in some way to stop LGBTQIA+ people having children."

She says even asking the question itself — whether the kids are OK — is homophobic.

"Asking that question is going in with an assumption that these families are in some way lesser or inadequate or inherently problematic.

"There's plenty of evidence that shows that kids raised in families that are poorer are not OK — but we're not going in there asking whether parents of low socioeconomic backgrounds should be allowed to have children."

So how do we help rainbow families?

Dr Power says anything that is done to change attitudes towards LGBTQIA+ people in schools will help rainbow families.

"Initiatives in schools to reduce discrimination and bullying and to increase awareness and conversations about diverse sexualities is inevitably going to help," she says, explaining this will allow for the "right sort" of conversations to happen in schools.

Rainbow Families community worker Ashley Scott added to this, saying the recognition and denouncement of discrimination is key:

"It is up to all of us to call out discrimination if and when we hear it. We all contribute to the community we live in, and have a part to play in making sure that everyone can feel safe to be themselves."

This all makes sense to Keely.

"If people know more about queer people and rainbow families, they'll become accustomed to them, they'll be more open-minded about them," she says.

Her message to those with preconceived notions about rainbow families? They need to look at stories like hers.

"[People] might think the kids are going to be bullied or turn out weird. I'm a super-confident person and I'm proud of my family."

The ABC's Heywire competition is open to all regional Australians aged between 16 and 22.

The annual competition provides a platform for the younger generation, in pockets of Australia that rarely see the spotlight, to "tell it like it is".

This year's winners were selected from close to 700 entries.

If you are aged between 16 and 22 and would like to find out more about the next ABC Heywire Regional Youth Summit, go to the ABC Heywire website.