The Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society has been awarded two new ARC Linkage grants, totalling $1,131,669 in new funding.
The first grant of $469,937, awarded to ARCSHS' Professor Jennifer Power, along with Dr Carmel Hobbs, Dr Alexandra James, Professor Kerry Robinson, Dr Andrea Waling and Professor Adam Bourne, will build on existing research to examine relationship experiences and support needs among young people (aged 14-18) in Australia.
The project will be conducted in partnership with Sexual Health Victoria, SHINE SA, the Centre for Multicultural Youth, Home Base Tasmania, the Youth Affairs Council of South Australia, Relationships Australia SA, True Relationships and reproductive health, Sexual and Reproductive Health Australia and Brisbane Youth Service.
The project aims to produce resources and tools for parents, educators and youth workers, including co-designed digital resources, that will support young people to build safe and respectful sexual relationships.
It will also explore contemporary influences on youth sexual cultures and gendered relationship dynamics.
The project will generate new evidence that can inform sustainable, coordinated responses to sexual health and safety across health, education, eSafety and youth services.
The second grant, totalling $661,732, will investigate and ultimately strengthen peer, living and lived experience programs.
The project will be led by Professor Graham Brown, with Dr Tessa-May Zirnsak, Dr Timothy Piatkowski, Dr Shane Worrell, Ms Vrinda Edan, M. John Gobeil, Dr John Rule, M. Mish Pony, Dr Ian Down, Mr James Gray, Ms Lucy Clynes, Ms Melanie Walker, Professor Lisa Brophy, Associate Professor Piers Gooding, Professor Sharon Lawn and Professor Sarah Wilson.
These programs, which centre the lived experience of people from stigmatised and marginalised groups and communities, are often siloed.
This project will bring together lived experience programs across sectors including mental health, alcohol and other drugs, harm reduction, HIV, viral hepatitis, sex work and LGBTIQ+ health.
It will be conducted in partnership with the Australian Injecting & Illicit Drug Users League (AIVL), the Victorian Mental Illness Awareness Council (VMIAC), the National Association of People with HIV Australia (NAPWHA), Scarlet Alliance - Australian Sex Workers Association, LGBTIQ+ Health Australia, Health Equity Matters, the Australian Alcohol and Other Drugs Council (AADC), Hepatitis Australia, Lived Experience Australia and the Collaborative Centre for Mental Health and Wellbeing.
The project will analyse different approaches, enablers, barriers and system dynamics of these programs, with the aim of generating new insights into theory and practice, co-developing resources, and strengthening the impact of lived experience programs to improve social, health and economic outcomes for marginalised communities.
Media contact: arcshs@latrobe.edu.au
