Well Well Well

21 Aug 2025

Celebrating 10 Years of SAMESH

Advocacy and Activism, Health, HIV, Peer Education Program, Sex & Sexuality, Sexual Health, Thorne Harbour Health (VAC)

SAMESH, the South Australian Mobilisation and Empowerment for Sexual Health is an HIV/STI Prevention and Health Promotion program which recently celebrated ten years since its foundation.

This partnership between Thorne Harbour Health and SHINE SA came about in 2015 after the AIDS Council of South Australia (ACSA) closed a few years prior.

Jack spoke with two people who were instrumental in its formation and ongoing operation:

• Colin Batrouney, Director of Health Promotion and Community Engagement at Thorne Harbour Health
• Holley Skene, Chief Executive Officer of SHINE SA

They discuss how SAMESH was designed to address gaps in sexual health education for our diverse communities in SA in 2015, some of the significant health promotion campaigns, and the lessons to come from overseeing this work over the past ten years.

Check out our other JOY Podcasts for more on LGBTIQ+ health and wellbeing at joy.org.au/wellwellwell.

If there’s something you’d like us to explore on the show, send through ideas or questions at wellwellwell@joy.org.au

Find out more about LGBTIQ+ services and events in Victoria and South Australia at thorneharbour.org and samesh.org.au.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 47:02 — 43.1MB) | Embed

Subscribe or Follow Us: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Deezer | RSS

19 Feb 2026

Jimpa and intergenerational conversations in our communities

Advocacy and Activism, HIV, Thorne Harbour Health (VAC)

Director Sophie Hyde and actor Aud-Mason Hyde unpack the new film, Jimpa, tracing the story’s roots to Professor Jim Hyde. Jim was ...

12 Feb 2026

Lunar New Year with Gay Asian Proud

Advocacy and Activism, Community, Health, Thorne Harbour Health (VAC)

How can we strengthen community ties with a queer Lunar New Year celebration? James Tapa from Gay Asian Proud (GAP) joins ...

6 Feb 2026

Heated Rivalry and Queer Ice Hockey in Melbourne

Advocacy and Activism, Community, Sport, Thorne Harbour Health (VAC)

We dive into the TV series Heated Rivalry, exploring how the show portrays LGBTQ+ athletes in a mixed‑gender ice‑hockey setting. Kade ...