NEWS & RESOURCES

SiREN Symposium 2024 Registrations Open! SiREN is pleased to announce that registrations are now open for the 2024 SiREN Symposium. Registration is available for face-to-face and online attendance. Registration includes access to all program sessions and is fully catered for face-to-face attendees. Additionally, face-to-face registrations include a complementary ticket to the Symposium sundowner networking event. Abstract submissions are currently open. Visit the Symposium website to find out more and register your attendance.  

SCIP Project - Help improve STI treatment survey. Curtin University. The project is seeking participants to take part in a 40-minute interview to pre-test a survey that aims to understand peoples’ preferences for syphilis treatment. The project is seeking gay and bisexual men who are at least 18-years-old and living in Australia to participate in this study. For more information or if you are interested in participating in this study please contact Nang nangngenge.phoo@curtin.edu.au.

NEXUS 2: Survey recruitment. NEXUS & CoPAHM. The NEXUS 2 project is exploring men, mobility, migration and sexual health. Curtin researchers are currently seeking Australian-born men who have travelled to Southeast Asia in the past 5 years to participate in a survey. This research will help to gain a better understanding of how to develop strategies to improve health outcomes and reduce health risks, particularly related to sexually transmissible infections and blood-borne viruses. For more information, please contact copahm@curtin.edu.au.

Sexual Health Week. WAAC. WA Sexual Health Week (SHW) runs from Monday 12 February to Sunday 18 February in 2024. The theme of SHW this year is ‘Absolutely Everybody’ which aims to celebrate and recognise sexual health as a right for all people. Start the conversation by sharing the SHW 2024 posters and social media tiles, which you can download via the WAAC website.

Australia's progress towards hepatitis C elimination: Annual report 2023. Burnet Institute & Kirby Institute. The fifth annual report on progress towards hepatitis C elimination brings together national data offering an overview of progress which helps to inform future directions in Australia’s hepatitis C response, and highlights gaps in our knowledge. Read the report here. 

New national public health and education campaign – “Beforeplay”. The Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care recently launched a new sexual health campaign, ‘Beforeplay’. This campaign aims to increase awareness among young people of the ways they can prevent sexually transmissible infections, with a focus on testing and safe sex behaviours. 

CONFERENCES

SiREN Symposium 2024. SiREN. The SiREN Symposium will be held on 30th and 31st May 2024 at The Hub, Bentley Technology Park and will be delivered online and in person. The theme for the Symposium is Getting to zero: Community and workforce actions for the elimination of HIV, hepatitis C and congenital syphilis transmission in WA. Please visit the Symposium website for more information and contact siren@curtin.edu.au for any questions. Abstract submissions are open. 30-31 May 2024. Perth, Australia.

AIDS 2024. International AIDS Society. This conference will convene thousands of people living with, affected by and working on HIV to share knowledge, best practice and lessons learnt from the HIV response over the past 40 years, as well as from the responses to COVID-19, mpox and other public health threats. Abstract submissions are closed. 22-26 July 2024. Munich, Germany.

Australasian HIV&AIDS Conference. ASHM. The Australasian HIV&AIDS conference returns in 2024, bringing the latest state-of-the-art research and evidence to Australia. Join delegates from Australia, New Zealand, Asia and the Pacific to hear from speakers from across the globe on the latest in HIV. Abstract submissions are open. 16-18 September 2024. Sydney, Australia.

14th Australasian Viral Hepatitis Conference. ASHM. This conference is being held on Larrakia country, Garamilla (Darwin), Northern Territory. This conference will bring together researchers, community members, health professionals and policymakers with the shared vision of eliminating viral hepatitis through collaboration, innovation and commitment. Abstract submissions are open. 1-3 August 2024. Darwin.

25th IUSTI World Congress. IUSTI & ASHM. This conference, which will incorporate the Australasian Sexual and Reproductive Health Conference and provide an opportunity to meet, discuss and learn about the latest research and innovation in sexual and reproductive health. Abstract submissions are open. 17-20 September 2024. Sydney.

TRAINING & SEMINARS

SiREN Short Courses. The SiREN Short Courses are free online training modules designed to support those working in the WA SHBBV sector. Available on-demand, these modules will build your capabilities in health promotion planning and evaluation. Each course contains a series of modules with videos, readings and activities enabling you to apply the concepts to a topic relevant to your work. Experienced staff will join you on your learning journey. The training is open to those working in WA only. Click here to enrol.

National Condom Day 2024 - Packing Party. WAAC. February 14th is known as National Condom Day at WAAC. Join WAAC for a condom packing party full of fun and participate in activities. 14 February 2024. Leederville, WA. 

Sexuality and Disability. SECCA. This workshop explores the relationship and sexuality rights and needs of people with disabilities. The workshop aims to develop awareness of our own values and attitudes in relation to sexuality, and consider how these may be barriers to the rights of the people we support. 15 February 2024. West Perth, WA.

Spotlight on a Stigma Intervention to Increase Access to PrEP. UNSW Centre for Social Research in Health. This seminar focuses on the use of stigma counselling and stigma interventions to improve access to PrEP among black men who have sex with men in the United States. A community guest will also share their reflections on medical mistrust and stigma interventions for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. 22 February 2024. Online.

Certificate in Sexual and Reproductive Health (Nursing). Sexual Health Quarters. SHQ is offering a Certificate in Sexual and Reproductive Health, a course for nurses and midwives looking to develop detailed knowledge and specialist clinical skills in sexual and reproductive health. 20-22 February 2024. Online. 

The Birds and the BBVs Training. Aboriginal Health Council of Western Australia, Sexual Health Quarters, Hepatitis WA. This two day training course aims to bring together Aboriginal Health Workers and others who work with Aboriginal people to increase their knowledge, skills, motivation and confidence to yarn with clients and community about why testing for STIs, HIV and BBVs is important and identify ways to normalise testing within a routine health check. 27-28 February 2024, South Hedland. 19-20 March 2024, Perth. 

FPAA Certificate in Reproductive and Sexual Health for Doctors. Sexual Health Quarters. This national certificate covers a range of reproductive and sexual health issues that are common in general practice. The course is useful for GP Registrars, O&G trainees, and experienced general practitioners who wish to refresh their knowledge in this area. 11-15 March 2024. Online.

Health Promotion 12 Week Online Course. Curtin University. This flexible 12-week online course will provide you with an understanding of the role and importance of health promotion and the broader concept of health within a community and national setting. The course aims to provide you with the skills needed to plan, implement and evaluate a health promotion program. 18 March-16 June, 2024. Find out more and register here.

Introduction to syphilis for midwives: Western Australia. ASHM. This course is for Western Australian midwives to develop their skills to confidently discuss sexual health with patients, conduct guideline-based syphilis screening and testing, identify health pathways in pregnancy, and initiate contact tracing. The training can be accessed anytime on the ASHM Online Learning System by searching 'Syphilis for Midwives' in the course catalogue. An ASHM login is required.

Syphilis outbreak training. ASHM. Professional development training is available for health practitioners affected by the ongoing outbreak of infectious syphilis among young Aboriginal people in regions of Queensland, Northern Territory, Western Australia and South Australia.  An ASHM login is required.

GRANTS & SCHOLARSHIPS

SiREN Symposium Grant. SiREN is offering scholarships for people with an interest in sexual health and blood-borne viruses from regional and remote areas of WA to participate online at our 2024 Symposium on 30-31 May. The scholarship covers online registration costs for the two-day Symposium. Applications close Sunday 24 March 2024 (11:59pm AWST). Find out more and how to apply here.

AIDS 2024 Scholarship Program. ASHM. The ASHM Scholarship Program is open for applications to AIDS 2024 to be held from 22-26 July 2024 in Munich, Germany. To be eligible, applicants must be an ASHM member, living and working in Australia and be a HIV clinician, nurse or pharmacist. Applications close 12 May 2024. Click here for more information. 

14th Australasian Viral Hepatitis Conference & 25th IUSTI World Congress Scholarship Program. ASHM. The ASHM Scholarship Program is open for applications to the Australasian HIV&AIDS Conference and the 25th IUSTI World Congress held from 16-20 September 2024 in Sydney, Australia. To be eligible, applicants must be an ASHM member, living and working in Australia and be a HIV clinician, nurse or pharmacist. Applications close 7 July 2024. Click here for more information.