Sydney Sexual Health Centre

Level 3, Nightingale Wing, Sydney Hospital
Macquarie St, Sydney NSW 2000

Telephone: 61 2 9382 7440

Services

The Sydney Sexual Health Centre provides a confidential and comprehensive service that helps put you in control of your sexual health. We do this by providing screening, vaccination and management of sexually transmissible infections (STIs) including HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, women’s and men’s sexual health care, education, individual and couple counselling, and needle and syringe program. The service is free and a Medicare card is not required. When presenting to SSHC you will be required to provide some identifying information and contact details.

Services cover:

screening for sexually transmitted infections including: gonorrhoea, chlamydia, HIV, trichomoniasis, hepatitis B, syphilis, pubic lice, genital warts, genital herpes, pelvic inflammatory disease.

relationship, sexuality and gender counselling

management of AIDS and HIV infection

management of other genital conditions such as candidiasis (thrush) and bacterial vaginosis (BV)

pregnancy testing and referral

management and referral for sexual assault

vaccination for hepatitis A and B

telephone information and advice

Satellite Clinic

assistance with contact tracing

Special clinics/services

HIV clinics and support services

colposcopy clinic

interpreter services and TTY

Thai language clinic

Chinese language clinic

Korean language clinic

sex worker screening

a clinic for men who have sex with men

Our service supports health promotion programs and prioritises care to groups at 'high risk' of STIs and HIV, such as;

men who have sex with men (MSM)

sex workers

injecting drug users (IDU)

people living with HIV/AIDS and

young people

Appointments

Appointments are available for doctors, nurses and counsellors. Please attend 15 minutes prior to your first appointment to allow time for processing your medical record. Walk-in clinics are available for patients who are unable to make an appointment or who require urgent attention

If you attend without an appointment, a nurse will see you to assess your needs. It is possible that you may be referred elsewhere or an appointment made for another day.

Telephone results

You must attend in person to collect HIV and hepatitis C results, unless we advise otherwise. Other results may be obtained via the telephone. Clients are asked to phone, quoting their medical record number. Telephone results are only available during the following times:

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday: 9.00am to 5.30pm

Wednesday: 2pm to 5.30pm

Satellite Sexual Health Youth Clinic

Tel: (02) 9388 9455

Sydney Sexual Health Centre operates this free, confidential clinic located in Bondi Junction for young people under 25 (no Medicare card required). The Satellite Clinic provides a range of sexual health help including: STI and pregnancy testing; contraception; Hepatitis B vaccination; relationship and sexuality advice. The Satellite Clinic is located in WAYS Youth Services Offices - Tiffany Plaza, Bondi Junction above the Bus/Rail Interchange.

The Junction, Tiffany Plaza
422 Oxford St
Bondi Junction
(Above the bus/rail interchange)
Ph: 9388 9455

satellite@sesiahs.health.nsw.gov.au

Youth Clinic Hours

Monday 2-6pm

Thursday 3-7pm

Drop-in or Appointment

Men Who Have Sex With Men

Sydney Sexual Health Centre provides free, confidential, and non-judgemental services to Men Who Have Sex With Men (MSM) with no Medicare Card required. We offer screening, vaccination and management of sexually transmissible infections (STIs) including HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, health education, free condoms, and counselling. Sydney Sexual Health Centre encourages regular screening for MSM, to ensure early diagnosis and treatment for STIs.

In addition, to our regular clinic hours, ‘The M.Clinic’, for men who have sex with men, operates Tuesday evenings. This service is by appointment only.

Tuesday: 5 – 7pm

Phone (02) 9382-7440 for an appointment

Links to further information on STI testing for MSM

The STIGMA Guidelines
The WhyTest website: http://www.whytest.org/

Sex Workers

Sydney Sexual Health Centre provides free, confidential, and non-judgemental services to sex workers with no Medicare Card required. We offer sex worker screening, vaccination and management of sexually transmissible infections (STIs) including HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, health education, free safe sex supplies and counselling.

The Multicultural Health Promotion Project has a priority group of Asian Sex Workers. The project participates in the Sexual Health Outreach Workers group (SHOW) who comprises with the Sex Workers’ Outreach Project (SWOP) and other Metropolitan and Greater Sydney Sexual Health Services. The Project offers:

free sexual health services using interpreter services

Thai, Korean and Chinese language clinics

outreach to parlours throughout Sydney

newsletters in Thai, Korean and Chinese

sexual health resources in more than 20 languages

health education, advocacy and referrals

Sex Industry Project Pamphlet

Sex Industry Project Pamphlet (English)

แผ่นพับ “โครงการสำหรับธุรกิจขายบริการ” Sex Industry Project Pamphlet (Thai)

性行业计划小册 Sex Industry Project Pamphlet (Chinese)

성 산업 프로젝트 팜푸래 Sex Industry Project Pamphlet (Korean)

セックスワーカープロジェクトパンフレット Sex Industry Project Pamphlet (Japanese)

Proyek Industri Seks Sex Industry Project Pamphlet (Indonesian)

Counselling

The Counselling Unit provides professional counselling services to the clients of the Centre. You may be offered a referral to one of the counsellors during your consultation with the nurse or doctor or be referred by another service, or else you can just call and make an appointment yourself. We are experienced in working with individuals and couples on a wide range of personal and relationship issues such as safer sex information, HIV/AIDS, sexual functioning, sexuality and gender issues, anxiety and depression associated with sexual health issues. The Unit also acts as a contact point for sexual assault and depression.

Sexual Health Infoline

Experienced sexual health nurses provide general information and advice to the community and health professionals on STIs, HIV and general sexual health including contraception, sexual function, relationships etc. The information line is confidential and also acts as a referral service.

During the following hours, experienced sexual health nurses are available to give you information and answer your questions.

Monday to Friday: 9.00am – 5.30pm

Telephone: 1800 451 624 (Freecall across NSW)

How to contact us

Telephone: 61 2 9382 7440

Facsimile: 61 2 9382 7475

TTY: 61 2 9221 6515

Email: sshc@sesiahs.health.nsw.gov.au

The Sydney Sexual Health Centre regrets that it cannot respond to requests for diagnostic treatment advice for individual cases. Please call the Sexual Health Infoline on 1800 451 624 for further information.

When are we open?

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday: 10am - 6pm

Wednesday: 2pm - 6pm

Where are we and how do you get here?

SSHC Map

Train: Martin Place station is directly opposite the hospital and St James station is at the end of Macquarie Street.

Bus: Bus No. 200 stops directly opposite the hospital in Macquarie Street.

Car parking: On-site underground parking available with 'Metro Pty Ltd' pay car park (entrance from Hospital Road). There are also a limited number of metered parking spaces available on Hospital Road.

Transport Infoline: For information about connections, destinations and timetables for government buses, trains and ferries in and around Sydney, telephone 13 15 00.

Your closest sexual health clinic

Sexual Health fact sheets

Disclaimer: The following fact sheets are provided for information purposes and are based on expert medical opinion available at the time of publishing. The information should not be used to replace the services of a health practitioner. Diagnosis and treatments should only be undertaken through consultation with a health professional.

Please note you are about to enter a section which contains sexually explicit information. Some people may find this information offensive.

bacterial vaginosis and candida

chlamydia

emergency contraception

genital herpes

genital warts

gonorrhoea

hepatitis A

hepatitis B

having a HIV test

molluscum contagiosum

NGU

pelvic inflammatory disease

pubic lice

syphilis

trichomoniasis

male sexual dysfunction

female sexual dysfunction

Health Care Worker training opportunities

Student placements and clinical attachments are available within the counselling, medical and nursing units.

Priorities are given to NSW and Australian undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Nursing

Sexual Nurse Clinical Placements

Placements of 2, 5 or 10 days are offered to RNs especially those working in the specialities of midwifery, HIV/AIDS, women’s health, youth health, primary health, corrections health, mental health and alcohol & other drugs. The participant will gain:

A broadening of their experience and an emphasis on management of STIs/BBVs
A clearer understanding of the range of best practice services provided by sexual health centres
Opportunity to observe a range of clients services provided by sexual health centres
The ability to practice sexual health clinical skills under supervision and guidance with constructive feedback.

Counselling

Sexual Health Counselling

The Counselling Unit offers learning opportunities to students of social work, psychology and counselling who are required to undertake a supervised practical placement as part of their course.

Students can expect to learn about counselling in a sexual health setting by observation and live supervision of their work. Most students would also undertake some sort of project.

Placements are offered according to staff availability. Contact the Senior Counsellor.

Medical

Undergraduate students

University of NSW medical students undertake a 6-week placement during their society and health term. Students undertake projects, visit associated HIV / Sexual health services and organisations and observe clinical interactions. Students also attend for their independent learning project placement.

University of Sydney students undertake placements by special arrangement.

Postgraduate students

Students requiring clinical placements for completion of postgraduate studies, contact the Clinical Services / Medical Unit Manager.

We encourage special placements for general practitioners or other specialists wishing to up-skill in clinical aspects of sexual health medicine. More formal training enquires can be directed to www.racp.edu.au/public/sexualhealth.htm

Links to relevant courses/training

Master / Graduate Diploma / Graduate Certificate in Health Science (Sexual Health), University of Sydney in collaboration with Australasian Chapter of Sexual Health Medicine (RACP), Australian Society of Sex Educators, Researchers and Therapists and STI Research Centre.

For more information visit;

or contact Dr. Patricia Weerakoon on p.weerakoon@fhs.usyd.edu.au