Better health and ageing for all Australians

Review of Investment in Sexual Health and Blood Borne Virus Activity – Final Report

State/ Territory Snapshot: Victoria

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The Commonwealth directly funded the Victorian Aboriginal and Community Controlled Health Organisation to implement a sexual health plan for the state. Victoria was also allocated $191,336 in 2009-10 for a youth demonstration project. Total state funding for 2009-2010 was $550,014.

Program/service

Description

Location/# of employees

Regions serviced

VACCHO
$358,678 		Sexual health program to provide sexual health support to AHW in OATSIH-funded organisations that aim to improve sexual and reproductive health (including STIs and BBVs) services in VACCHO Member organisations.

OATSIH Victoria provided $358,678 for the 2009-2010 recurrent core funding for VACCHO’s Communicable Diseases (Sexual Health Program). VACCHO employs a Coordinator and two Project Officers and provides a Sexual Heath Program.

VACCHO’s sexual health team provides support and training to Aboriginal Health Workers to assist their delivery of training, information, referrals and support to their Aboriginal communities. This program also aims to raise the profile of Sexual Health in Victoria through its involvement in providing secretariat support to the VACKH Sexual Health sub­committee and organising stakeholder meetings and submitting Sexual Health as an agenda item at VACCHO member meetings.
  • Develop, implement and monitor the progress of the VACCHO Sexual and Reproductive Health Program and Implementation Plan.
  • Support AHWs in their delivery of information, referral and support to their community.
  • Respond to requests from individual health services for sexual health follow ups and STI prevention resources.
  • Help with referrals to appropriate service providers.
  • Revise the statewide sexual health resource guide.
  • Monitor and document sexual health issues to enable the provision of peer support, advice and information to individual health services.
  • Conduct information and training workshops.
  • Continue to work with existing partners and participate in the STI/BBV prison research project in conjunction with Onemda, ARCSHS and DOJ.
  • Maintain partnerships with Hep C Victoria to ensure the successful operation of DHS funded Chopped Liver performance and development of new Hep C Projects.
  • Participate in the HARM Reduction Projects with Anex.
  • Continue to participate in the Marie Stopes Condom Marketing and SNAKE Tool Kit project.
  • Mind the Gap – FPV – 3 Year project.
  • Re-establish the VACKH Sexual and Reproductive Health Sub-Committee.
  • Participate in the NACCHO Sexual Health / BBV Committee.
Fitzroy
3 positions		Statewide service
Marie Stopes Australia (youth demonstration project)
$191,336 		‘Don’t Let U Community Get Bitten – Ask for a Snake (Condom)’ Project, which is about expanding the condom social marketing and STIs early detection project to impact on 24 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across Australia. Encourages 16-30 year olds to practice safe sex by marketing condoms designed by Aboriginal youth to be culturally acceptable and appealing. The promotion of the condom involves educational messages and health service referrals. It also aimed to improve the sexual and reproductive health of young Indigenous Victorians by acting as an awareness raising and education medium whereby messages about early STI detection can be discussed in an open, safe and culturally appropriate environment.

The key elements of the Snake initiative include community consultation, design development and distribution of a snake interactive toolkit, training of Aboriginal health workers and peer educators to be Snake Charmers, raising national awareness of the initiative, a youth advocacy program, development and distribution of early detection STI referral cards and handover to the community. 		Melbourne
2 positions 		Australia wide service
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