Meridian ACT

🎉 Hooray, it’s Herpes Awareness Day! 🎉

Herpes is the most common STI in Australia, making it the popular kid on the STI block!

🦠🦠🦠❌ Over 75% of people have one of the 2 variants of herpes simplex virus (HSV), commonly referred to as ‘cold sores’ and ‘genital herpes’ (though you can get either version on your mouth or ge****ls).

HSV spreads easily through skin contact. It’s largely benign & often doesn’t show any symptoms. Plenty of people live blissfully unaware they’re carrying the virus.

While there's no cure for the virus, there are effective ways to manage any symptoms you may have. Some people experience pain and discomfort during a herpes outbreak; if that's you, talk with your GP or a s*xual health practitioner.

However, often the worst symptom isn't caused by the virus but by people: the social stigma around herpes.

According to the Herpes Stigma Index by the New Zealand Herpes Foundation, Australia ranks 3rd in the world in reducing herpes stigma. This is great, but we think we can do better.

🏆 You can help us beat Spain & NZ and become #1 by learning more about herpes!

🔗 For a start, check out this wonderful NZ campaign: https://thebestplaceintheworldtohaveherpes.com/

Our next STRIP Clinic is on Monday 19 October, offering free and confidential STI testing for LGBTIQA+ communities.

PrEP prescriptions available. No Medicare card required.

📞 Bookings are required. Call 02 6257 2855 during business hours to book.

Visit www.meridianact.org.au/strip for more info.

🌈 Would you like to feel more comfortable and confident in providing services to LGBTIQA+ people, as well as supporting your colleagues? Get your organisation to book a session of our LGBTIQA+ Foundation training.

🧑‍🏫 This 2-hour module provides fundamental information for organisations embarking on their inclusive practice journey or wanting to refresh their existing knowledge. It will give you the essential skills and knowledge to feel comfortable and confident to embrace diversity and improve your service user experience.

ACT Government-funded courses are available for eligible organisations.

🔗 Find out more about Meridian’s training at www.meridianact.org.au/training_and_education

This National Carers Week (11 to 17 October), let's all play a part in making carers visible at home, work & in our community.

Learn more, get involved and access practical tips & resources at carersweek.com.au

You can also view Unconditional, a documentary by Canberra carer & filmmaker Dr. Dalanglin Dkhar, that shares the lived experiences of 4 unpaid carers. This can help organisations deepen conversations about caring, whether through a workplace or community screening. Find out more at https://unconditionalfilm.com.au/

Mental Health Month is held in October each year, with World Mental Health Day on the 10th. It's an opportunity to pause, check in with ourselves & those around us, and reflect on how we can look after our mental health & wellbeing.

💚 The 2026 theme is ‘Together we Thrive’. It recognises that, while life can often feel overwhelming, connection remains one of the most powerful ways to support our mental health & wellbeing.

🧠 Right now, life feels like a lot and many of us are feeling overwhelmed & disconnected. This takes a toll on our mental health.

🤝 But at our core, our needs remain the same: to feel safe & understood and to know we matter.

🫂 When we come together—through small, everyday moments of care, kindness, conversation & connection—we can help each other to truly thrive. A simple conversation, a kind message or taking the time to listen can make a meaningful difference.

🙌 This World Mental Health Day, let's help to raise awareness, reduce stigma & create a community where everyone feels safe to seek support when they need it.

🔗 Learn more, get involved and download resources from Mental Health Australia at www.worldmentalhealthday.com.au

Happy International Le***an Day! On 8 October each year (and, really, every other day too!), we celebrate the wonderful contributions le****ns make to our society, as well as their history, diversity and cultures.

We acknowledge the resilience of le****ns in Australia and around the world as they fought and continue to advocate for equality, acceptance and equal rights for all.

This month’s Shout Out is to our friends at Canberra Sexual Health Centre (CSHC), part of Canberra Health Services.

We have a long-standing partnership with the CSHC team, particularly through our STRIP Clinic and s*xual health testing clinics for s*x workers across Canberra. Our Peer Navigator is also embedded at CSHC once a week, providing support to people living with HIV.

We could not achieve what we do for our communities without the CSHC team!

Thanks so much to CSHC for your continued support of Meridian. We look forward to what the future brings in our partnership!

When was the last time you reflected on how the different parts of your life are going?

If this makes you feel overwhelmed, don’t worry: we’re here to give you a helping hand.

The picture in this post shows the 'Wheel of life', where each area of your life is represented by a different wedge. In each wedge, note how that part of your life is tracking. You could:
- give it a score out of ten
- place a dot (closer to outside for 'Great!' or closer to the middle for 'needs improvement').

It’s normal to have different scores in different areas because we’re all growing at our own pace. This activity can help you work out where your energy may need to go.

If this activity has brought about distress for you, consider talking to someone: someone you trust, a clinician or a phoneline or webchat. We’ve got a list of crisis services you can access on our website (www.meridianact.org.au/crisis_contacts_and_other_supports ), and you can get support from our wellbeing team by submitting a referral at www.meridianact.org.au/wellbeing.

The Australian Government’s Medical Services Advisory Committee (MSAC) is continuing consultation on including surgical procedures for gender affirmation on the Medical Benefits Schedule for adults with gender incongruence.

You can provide input through a consultation survey on this topic that closes on Friday 9 October.

We particularly encourage the following groups to respond to this survey to ensure your views are heard:
• people with gender incongruence who may want or have had gender-affirming surgical procedures
• parents, partners and carers or people with gender incongruence
• consumer, medical and health organisations
• health professionals
• health academics.

Find out more and take the survey at https://www.msac.gov.au/applications/1754

Do you know about MGen (Mycoplasma genitalium)?

We recently worked with our friends at STUN Magazine to highlight this bacterium that doesn't have the hype of its STI cousins.
Check out https://stunmagazine.com.au/mgen-the-sti-you-might-not-have-heard-of/

Learn more about STIs on our website at www.meridianact.org.au/stis

MGen: the STI you might not have heard of - Stun Magazine Chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis. You probably know the usual suspects. But there’s another bacterial STI worth getting acquainted with: Mycoplasma genitalium, or MGen for those of us who don’t feel like saying all that. Despite its lower profile, MGen deserves a spot on your s*xual health radar....