A new vision for the sexual and reproductive health of Tasmanians is being launched at Parliament House Hobart on World Sexual Health Day, 4 September 2024.
The new vision is a framework for action which its authors hope will encompass every age group and every part of the community.
The Sexual and Reproductive Health Strategic Framework 2024 – 2030 is the creation of the Sexual and Reproductive Health Collaborative Group (SRHCG), a unique collection of organisations all of whom work in some way to deliver sexual and reproductive health services to the Tasmanian community.
The framework the group has created reflects a collaborative effort involving both government and non-government organisations’ health and community services, education providers, policy makers and advocacy groups.
“Our goal is for all Tasmanians to experience wellbeing and to have freedom of choice in their sexual and reproductive health,” said SRCHG member, Lalla McKenzie, CEO of Family Planning Tasmania. “To have that they need information, and responsive and respectful services.”
The Key Priorities in the fsexramework:
1. Communication: Enhancing collaborative working, listening, and advocacy to improve practice and policy in sexual and reproductive health care.
2. Respectful Relationships and Sexuality Education: Providing comprehensive education across the lifespan.
3. Inclusion: Ensuring services respect and include diverse genders, sexual identities, and innate variations of sex characteristics.
4. STI Prevention, Detection, and Treatment: Promoting informed management of sexual health and maintaining healthy sexual relations.
5. Supporting Reproductive Rights: Empowering Tasmanians to make and act on their reproductive choices.
“Tasmanians face lots of challenges,” said Andrew Badcock, Policy & Support Manager of Working it Out (Tasmania’s gender, sexuality and intersex support, education and advocacy service).
“People find it hard to get the information they need or delivered in a way that they can access. How far you live from services can be a huge factor in whether you get needed support.”
“The framework we’ve developed has ways to address these issues. We want to emphasise health equity and inclusion for community groups who face unfair barriers maintaining their health and wellbeing such as LGBTIQA+ folk, Aboriginal people, and those with disabilities.”
Jo Flanagan, CEO of Women’s Health Tasmania and Co-Chair of the Group said, “Our group is a unique collaboration. We’re an example of how Government and non-Government sectors can work together to achieve a great deal if we focus our efforts on shared goals. We can do this even within an environment of constrained resources.”
“Since the group was established in 2011, our members have worked together to influence significant changes. We have achieved some significant initiatives, including increased recognition of LGBTIQA+ rights, the availability of surgical terminations of pregnancy in public hospitals, the delivery of medical terminations of pregnancy through publicly funded services, period poverty initiatives providing sanitary products in schools and hospitals, and the establishment of the online service directory, Pregnancy Choices Tasmania.”
Andrew Mitchell, Co-Chair of SRHCG and Coordinator of the Tasmanian Sex Worker Project for the Scarlet Alliance, said, “This strategic framework is a testament to our collaborative effort to enhance sexual and reproductive health for all Tasmanians. By launching it on World Sexual Health Day, we emphasise the global importance of sexual health as a fundamental human right.”
You can find the Sexual and Reproductive Health Strategic Framework 2024 – 2030 on these websites:
Women’s Health Tasmania www.womenshealthtas.org.au/resources
Working it Out www.workingitout.org.au
Family Planning Tasmania www.fpt.org.au
