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One step forward
What an amazing win for the USA with the recent landmark legalisation of gay marriage. Of course, whilst this momentous occasion brings the world one step closer to equality for LGBTI communities, it is also a grim reminder of how far Australia has to go. Despite a rainbow-tinged facebook feed and a reignited global conversation about basic human rights for all, there is still much work to be done, and it's moments like these that highlight the very real need for research to provide support for positive social change.
And, of course, that's exactly what we've been doing. In this newsletter you'll find news about our most recent work, and you can look back at the last year at ARCSHS in our newly released Annual Report (PDF, 1.5MB).
As always, thank you for your contribution to - and interest in - our work. I hope you enjoy reading about it.
 Warm regards,
Professor Jayne Lucke
Director, ARCSHS
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Latest News
Launch: A Closer Look at Private Lives 2
Following on from the release of Private Lives 2 in April 2012, ARCSHS was thrilled to release A Closer Look at Private Lives 2 as a companion report in April this year.
A Closer Look at Private Lives 2 focuses particularly on the mental health and well-being of LGBT Australians. It takes a detailed look at the variations in psychological distress and resilience between LGBT and mainstream communities, and variations within LGBT communities according to gender identity, sexual identity, age and socio-economic status.
Authored by William Leonard, Anthony Lyons, Emily Bariola, A Closer Look at Private Lives 2 was launched in April 2015. Read about the report's significance and findings here or download the full report.
What Works and Why (W3)
Engaging with the community sector
What Works and Why (W3) is an ARCSHS collaborative research and community sector project working to develop tools and approaches to improve outcomes in peer-based HIV and HCV health promotion programs.
In the past few months, W3 has been building momentum across the sector through research presentations and workshops. Recent activities include:
- community sector evaluation training at the Centre for Research Excellence in Injecting Drug Use (CREIDU)
- members forum presentation at the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO)
- visits to the National Association of People Living with HIV Australia (NAPWHA)
- participation in the Victorian BBV Sector Forum on Peer Based Approaches
- visits to Harm Reduction Victoria
- visits to the Centre of Excellence for Intervention and Prevention Science.
To find out more about W3 or arrange for a research presentation, visit the W3 Project website.
Safe Schools Coalition Victoria
Workshop: Getting your Stand Out (GSA/QSA) group started
In early 2012, S afe Schools Coalition Victoria and Minus18 put their heads together to start the Stand Out network - a centralised hub connecting Stand Out groups across the state. Stand Out groups aim to create inclusive, safe and celebratory spaces in schools for same-sex attracted, intersex and gender diverse young people and their allies. This network is growing larger each year.
To support this growth, Safe Schools Coalition Victoria recently hosted a workshop at ARCSHS for forty school staff and students - Getting your Stand Out (GSA/QSA) group started. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Following the workshop, participants reported feeling confident and supported to set up groups in their own schools using youth led and participatory models.
Many thanks to Minus18’s Ivy McGowan for her invaluable help with facilitating this workshop, and thanks and courage to all the inspirational educators and young people who attended.
Keen to find out about upcoming workshops? Find out more about Safe Schools training here.
ARCSHS presents at 5th ACFID University Network Conference
Gender, Sexuality and Disadvantage: Intimately entwined, but perpetually divorced within international development
The Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) University Network Conferences draw participants from across Australia, Asia and the Pacific to share insight into aid and international development. Importantly, the conferences also promote collaboration and partnerships between NGOs and Universities.And that's where ARCSHS comes in.
ARCSHS staff recently attended and presented at the 5th ACFID University Network Conference (held in Melbourne from 4-5 June), contributing towards the conference's resounding theme - Evidence and Practice in the Age of Inequity.
ARCSHS Deputy Director Gary Dowsett and former ARCSHS staff member Gillian Fletcher (now with La Trobe's Institute for Human Security and Social Change) co-led the workshop Gender, Sexuality and Disadvantage: Intimately entwined, but perpetually divorced within international development alongside co-investigator Nicola Henry (from Legal Studies at La Trobe) and Collaborating Investigator Stephen Wood (from the Institute for Development Studies at the University of Sussex, UK).
Eagerly attended by 28 conference delegates, this workshop drew on preliminary findings from a research project looking at sexuality, gender and disadvantage in community health and social justice programs in the Asia-Pacific region.
This project, funded by a grant from the La Trobe's 'Transforming Human Societies' research focus area, worked with partner agencies in the Philippines. This June's workshop kicked off with presentations from two of these agencies, presented by Napoleon Fernandez and Valentina David (from the Family Planning Association of the Philippines) and Maroz Ramos (from GALANG, a community-based organisation working with young lesbians, bisexual women and transmen in Manila). These representatives worked closely with the ARCSHS team as colleagues, and it was an honour to have them present with the team.
All in all, the workshop was a resounding success, and ARCSHS welcomed the opportunity to share this research project with the wider international development community.
To find out more about the 5th ACFID University Network Conference and watch plenary sessions online, visit the conference website.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
ARCSHS Course: Pre- and Post-Test Discussion
This interactive 4.5-day accredited course provides participants with the opportunity to practice pre and post-test discussion skills in a supportive, educational environment. The course is suitable for anyone who provides blood-borne virus (BBV) screening, education or support. Students will also gain insight into the stigma and discrimination around BBVs and develop skills for managing these in the workplace.
Dates: August (4.5 days from 17-18th and 24-26th), November (4.5 days from 16-17th and 23-25th)
Location: ARCSHS, 215 Franklin St, Melbourne
Cost: $780
Details and bookings: Contact Emily Lenton on (03) 9479 8715 or via email
2nd National LGBTI Ageing and Aged Care Conference 2015
Registrations and submissions now open
The National LGBTI Ageing and Aged Care Conference is back for its second year. With a range of key national partners (to be announced soon), this two-day event will take a look at the National LGBTI Ageing and Aged Care Strategy (Australian Department of Social Services, 2012) and pose two key questions: what have we achieved and what still needs to be done?
Hosted by Val's Café, the conference has committed to ensuring at least 25% of speakers are older LGBTI people. To register and submit your proposals, simply visit the event website.
Date: 26-27 October, 2015
Location: Arts Centre, Melbourne
Cost: $430 (early bird), $505 (full). Concession prices available.
Details and bookings: Find and more and register here
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Resource Feature
Improving E-therapy for Mood Disorders among Lesbians and Gay Men
A practical toolkit for developing tailored web and mobile phone-based depression and anxiety interventions
In response to a growth-trend in online therapies for depression and anxiety, Anthony Lyons, Tomas Rozbroj, Marian Pitts, Anne Mitchell and Helen Christensen (Black Dog Institute) put their heads together to develop this tailored toolkit to help funders, developers, and practitioners alike create more inclusive online applications.
E-therapies are structured interactive programs that deliver psychotherapy services via digital devices. Their popularity in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the rest of the world is growing, but as things stand now, they rarely take non-heterosexual people into account, and their content can, at times, be exclusionary.
E-therapy has huge potential for use in non-heterosexual populations. With attractive features like anonymity and accessibility, it could be the missing piece for individuals who have previously avoided traditional therapy due to fear of stigma.
Based on peer-reviewed research*, the Improving E-therapy... toolkit combats E-therapy's current oversights, and provides comprehensive guidance for tailoring online therapies to be more inclusive and more responsive to the therapeutic needs of lesbians and gay men. The toolkit also offers detailed background information and links to key research and organisations.
Thanks to the generous support of beyondblue, the toolkit is currently available for download from the ARCSHS website.
*Improving Self-Help E-Therapy for Depression and Anxiety Among Sexual Minorities: An Analysis of Focus Groups With Lesbians and Gay Men and Assessing the Applicability of E-Therapies for Depression, Anxiety, and Other Mood Disorders Among Lesbians and Gay Men: Analysis of 24 Web- and Mobile Phone-Based Self-Help Interventions
Coming Up
Val's Café launches Then and Now films
Thanks to funding from the Department of Social Services, Val’s Café is pleased to launch its four-film series, Then and Now.
Developed by Val’s Café in collaboration with Minus18 and support from Matrix Guild, Vintage Men, and Transgender Victoria, the films are due to be formally launched at Val's in the near future. But you're in luck. Due to unprecedented demand, the four films are currently available to watch online on Val’s Café website. Happy viewing!
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Opinion
The following piece was first published on The Conversation, 24 May 2015. It is the first article of a new regular column by Jayne Lucke, ARCSHS Director - ‘The Facts of Life’.
Sex, health and society: what’s the connection?
'What do you do?' It’s a question that always makes my heart sink. Which aspect of what I do should I highlight in the answer to this minefield of a question?
The answer must be brief because the attention span of the interrogator will last only as long as politeness dictates. But it must also be carefully crafted because it sets the tone for subsequent conversations. Although I’ve been asked many times, I’m yet to find a universally suitable answer to this question.
I’m the director of the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society (ARCSHS, pronounced 'arches' or 'archers' – it’s the best we can do with only one vowel!) at La Trobe University. But I would never say that to a taxi driver at the start of a long ride, or anyone else I might be stuck with for a period of time.
Often I mumble about 'working in women’s health' and study my phone or if I’m feeling chatty I brightly say I’m 'a researcher at La Trobe' and start talking about the weather. It’s not that I don’t want to talk about my work, or the important and unique work done at ARCSHS. I’ve just learnt to anticipate the raised eyebrow, salacious lip-licking and inappropriate comment that indicates someone’s stopped listening after they heard the word 'sex' and now thinks I’m a sex expert.
I am but not of the salacious kind, and this column is about the intersection of sex, health and society. It’s not about 'how to be really good at sex'. In fact, it’s not going to be very titillating at all. You’ll have to go elsewhere if that’s your thing.
I’m interested in how issues relating to sex, gender and sexuality impact physical and mental well-being and how these issues shape, and are shaped by, the types of societies we build and value.
Sex is used to sell everything from happiness and social inclusion to soft drink and power tools, but for many people it’s a cause of agonising shame and embarrassment, or even discrimination, bullying or violence.
While the positive messages we often receive from the mass media and scientific research promote the need for healthy sexual lives, the negative impact of our collective discomfort with sex, sexuality, sexual identity, gender and related concepts is manifested in many complex problems.
Understanding sex and its relationship with health and society, and how to influence and change things for the better, involves asking some big questions, such as:
- How do we promote positive sexuality across the life span?
- What are the implications of new developments in the scientific understanding of the genetic, hormonal and neuroscience underpinnings of sex, gender and sexuality?
- How does our view of social norms and our cultural and religious beliefs about sex impact on our health and well-being?
- How can we combat sexuality and gender-based abuse, and the mental and emotional trauma that results?
- How can we overcome the widespread reluctance to implement evidence-based comprehensive sex education in schools which results in the damaging de facto sex education of young people by peers, internet pornography and popular media?
- How can we best deal with the mental health consequences of misogynist and homophobic bullying and violence at school and beyond?
- How can we ease the awkwardness many people feel in the doctor’s surgery resulting from stigma and misunderstanding, leading to suboptimal clinical care for those unwilling to disclose their sexual activities, not just in relation to sexual health, but also in diseases such as cervical and prostate cancer?
- How can we prevent and minimise the growing impact of viral hepatitis (which can be sexually transmitted) on affected communities, health professionals and the health system?
- How can we reduce the rate of unintended pregnancy, the spread of sexually transmissible diseases including HIV, and the physical and mental health consequences?
- How can we conduct research on these sensitive issues that makes a real difference to the health and well-being of everyone, but particularly stigmatised and marginalised communities?
- How can we create a better world that values the important and positive role of sexuality in society?
This column will wrestle with these complex issues and difficult questions. It will explore ways we can make a positive impact on people’s lives. It won’t be titillating, but I’m sure it will be interesting.
And if you can summarise all this into a 20-second response I can use to answer the question 'what do you do?', please let me know – I will be eternally grateful.
For more articles from Jayne's column 'The Facts of Life', visit The Conversation.
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OUR PEOPLE
Wendy Heywood
ARCSHS Research Officer and PhD Student
Wendy is a long-standing ARCSHS staff member. She's been working with us as a Research Officer for six years now, and with two new projects kicking off this year, it doesn't look like she's going anywhere for a while.
Past Work
Wendy was awarded an Australian Postgraduate Award Scholarship in 2011, and commenced her PhD at ARCSHS supervised by Professor Anthony Smith and Dr Kent Patrick. Following Anthony’s death in 2012, Professor Marian Pitts took over the supervision, and Wendy submitted her thesis - Early first sexual intercourse: A critical examination of the relationships between age at first sexual intercourse and later sexual outcomes among Australian men and women - in June 2015.
Through her work with ARCSHS, Wendy has contributed to the NHMRC-funded project The Australian Longitudinal Study of Health and Relationships (led by Professor Anthony Smith) and the Australian Government Department of Health-funded Fifth National Survey of Secondary Students and Sexual Health (led by Professor Anne Mitchell and Professor Marian Pitts).
Current Work
Wendy has her hands full with two ARCSHS projects on the go. Working alongside fellow ARCSHS researchers (Dr Anthony Lyons, Dr Catherine Barrett, Dr Graham Brown and Dr Bianca Fileborn), Wendy is examining older Australians' knowledge of STIs and safe-sex practices through the ARC-funded project Sex, Age & Me. Wendy is also working with Dr Anthony Lyons on the Australian Government Department of Health-funded project Healthy Minds to examine the impact of living with HIV on mental health.
Find out more about Wendy Heywood here.
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We want YOU
Research participants wanted
To continue to deliver high-quality work, we need genuine participants to help us in our research. ARCSHS is currently looking for interested parties to participate in the following research projects.
Understanding the needs and experiences of older LGBTI carers & the carers of older LGBTI people in Australia
We know that older LGBTI people have had a range of unique life experiences, and we also know that many older LGBTI people are carers. However, we don’t know how sexual orientation and gender identity impact on the experiences and needs of older LGBTI carers or the carers of older LGBTI people.
We're partnering with Carers Australia to explore this topic, and we're seeking participants for an online survey and confidential interviews.
Eligible participants must be:
- An older LGBTI carer or the carer of an older LGBTI person
- A current Australian resident
- Carers must be in a current carer role or have been in a carer role in the last two years.
Note: for the purpose of this this project we define 'older' as 55 or older. 'Caring' may include unpaid help and support in any of the daily activities of the person being cared for. You could be a friend, partner or family member – carers can be anyone.
Information from this study will be used to develop education and resources for aged care and carer support services. Find out more about this study and complete the questionnaire on the Older LGBTI Carers research project page.
Strengthening community responses to chronic hepatitis B
Chronic hepatitis B is the leading cause of primary liver cancer worldwide. It’s estimated that 218,000 people in Australia are chronically infected with this virus.
The increasing burden of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) in Australia falls disproportionately on Australians born in countries of high prevalence such as China, Vietnam and South Sudan, but current hepatitis B-related information and services are primarily western in orientation and don't take into account the health beliefs and practices of people from diverse backgrounds.
Call for participants
If you have, or know anyone who has, chronic hepatitis B with a Chinese, Vietnamese or South Sudanese background we would to love hear your stories. Interviews will take 30-60 minutes and the interviews will be conducted in English, Vietnamese, Chinese or Juba Arabic. Participants will receive $25 in appreciation of their time. Find out more about the project here.
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RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Check out our top ARCSHS picks for this quarter. For more ARCSHS publications, visit our website.
Bariola, E., Lyons, A., Leonard, W., Pitts, M., Badcock, P., & Couch, M. (accepted 9/5/2015). Demographic and psychosocial factors associated with psychological distress and resilience among transgender individuals. American Journal of Public Health.
Chen, D. S., Locarnini, S., & Wallace, J. (2015). From the big three to the big four. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 15(6), 626-627.
Fletcher, G. (2015). The knowledge gap: Examining the rhetoric and implementation of peer education for HIV prevention in Myanmar. Sex Education: Sexuality, Society and Learning.
DOI: 10.1080/14681811.2015.1028529.
Harris, M., Loxton, D., Wigginton, B., & Lucke, J. C. (2015). Recruiting online: Lessons from a longitudinal survey of contraception and pregnancy intentions of young Australian women. American Journal of Epidemiology, 181(10), 737-746. DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwv006.
Lenton, E., & Fraser, S. (2015). Hepatitis C health promotion and the anomalous sexual subject. Social Theory & Health. DOI: 10.1057/sth.2015.6.
Meenagh, J. (2015). Flirting, dating, and breaking up within new media environments. Sex Education. DOI: 10.1080/14681811.2015.1033516.
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Grants and Funding
Funding makes the world go 'round. Or, in this case, it helps us at ARCSHS continue to do the work that we do. We're thrilled to announce that our funding from the Victorian Government has been extended, with an additional $1.1M over four years for Safe Schools Coalition Victoria, around $300,000 over 4 years for Rainbow Network and $402,000 over 3 years for Val’s Café.
We've also received grants for the following projects.
An HIV Cure: ethical and social consequences of cure-focused research
This project will be the first Australian study into the social, ethical and public health implications of HIV cure research. The grant was awarded to Prof. Gary Dowsett, with ARCSHS collaborators including:
- Prof Jayne Lucke
- Dr Jennifer Power
- Jack Wallace
- Dr Jeanne Ellard
- Dr Jacqui Richmond.
External collaborators include:
- Professor Sharon Lewin, Director at the Doherty Institute, University of Melbourne and Consultant Physician at the Alfred Hospital
- Dr Sophie Hill, Head of Centre for Health Communication and Participation, and Coordinating Editor of the Cochrane Consumers and Communication Review Group, College of Science, Health and Engineering, La Trobe University
- Dr Joseph Tucker, Assistant Professor at the UNC School of Medicine and Director of UNC Project-China
- Dr Sean Slavin, Health Promotion Program, Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations
- Aaron Cogle, Executive Director of the National Association of People Living with HIV Australia.
Investigating the service provision of effective contraception in rural Victoria
This project will explore how service providers in rural areas of Victoria access information and professional development, and how they provide contraception to young women. Awarded to Dr Kent Patrick, this project's collaborators include:
- Professor Jayne Lucke (ARCSHS)
- Associate Professor Jane Tomnay, Centre of Excellence in Rural Sexual Health, University of Melbourne,
- Professor Jane Farmer, Associate Pro Vice Chancellor of Research at the College of Science, Health & Engineering, La Trobe University
- Professor Jane Hocking, Melbourne School of Population and Global Growth, University of Melbourne.
Mental health and hepatitis B: Building the evidence
This project aims to support the development of a more systematic and comprehensive approach to understanding mental health issues among people with hepatitis B. Awarded to Jack Wallace, this project's collaborators include:
- Behzad Hajarizadeh
- Jeanne Ellard
- Jacqui Richmond
- Ros Le
- Suzanne Polic (St George Hospital)
- Raina Jardin (Westmead Hospital)
- Helen Tyrrell (Hepatitis Australia).
If the shoe fits: exploring footwear choice and problems
This collaboration will explore the relationship of shoes to women’s identity over the life span, and identify ways to prevent foot problems before they develop in middle and older age. This grant was awarded to:
- Professor Hylton Menz, Allied Health, La Trobe University
- Rachel Thorpe (ARCSHS)
- Karl B Landorf, School of Allied Health
- Marian Pitts, Emeritus Professor (ARCSHS)
- Gail Hawkes, Adjunct Professor (ARCSHS).
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