Indigenous Health Workers Sexual & Reproductive Health Skills Project

This project is funded through Rio Tinto Aboriginal Fund. The Rio Tinto Aboriginal Fund supports programs that improve health outcomes for Aboriginal people and have the potential to provide sustainable benefits.

The project provides professional development and support to Indigenous Health Workers employed by Aboriginal Medical Services in regional Queensland to improve the health of the communities they serve. Its aims are to:

• Provide training and boost skills and confidence in sexual and reproductive health;
• Offer mentoring and support; and
• Reduce the high rates of sexually transmitted infections, unintended pregnancies and sexual assault that have been documented in these communities.

To date, intensive workshops, clinical placements at FPQ Regional Centres, access to resources, mentoring and support have been provided by experienced FPQ staff to assist Indigenous Health Workers in the Cairns and Toowoomba regions. A workshop scheduled for the Rockhampton region that would have completed the project objectives to offer training and support to Indigenous Health Workers in Northern, Central and Southern regional Queensland, was cancelled in March 2010 due to cyclone Ului.

For more information about this project, please contact contact Rowena Prentice, at FPQ in Cairns on 07 4031 2232.